Labor concedes defeat in key seat, as powerful Qld MP reveals ‘dire’ road ahead

Labor has conceded defeat in a key Brisbane seat, as new Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the nation is facing “dire economic challenges”. LATEST COVERAGE

Queensland Labor MP Terri Butler has conceded defeat amid the “Greenslide” in inner-city Brisbane.

Ms Butler, on social media, said on the current count it “seems clear that I will not be returned as the member for Griffith”.

“I wish the new member well in delivering on all the promises he has made,” she said.

Ms Butler, Labor’s spokeswoman on the environment, has held the seat of Griffith since the 2014 by-election sparked by the resignation of former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Results in the seat so far show a significant swing away from the LNP to the Greens, pushing Ms Butler to third place.

Terri Butler has conceded defeat.

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Qld’s most powerful MP on tough road ahead

Australia’s next Treasurer Jim Chalmers said he felt a sense of responsibility with the nation facing “dire economic challenges”.

“This will be the trickiest conditions an incoming treasury has inherited since World War II,” Mr Chalmers said from his Logan home.

“Inflation is skyrocketing, real wages are falling and there’s substantial pressure on the budget with $1 trillion in debt.

“We intend to implement our commitments, we intend to start with these challenges straight away, but we’re realistic about how long it will take to turn these challenges around.”

New Treasurer Jim Chalmers. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

Mr Chalmers, Labor’s most senior federal MP in Queensland, said he would bring a perspective to the Cabinet table and Treasury from outside the Sydney-Melbourne-Canberra triangle.

“I’m a Queenslander born and bred, but I want to be a Treasurer for the whole country,” he said.

“Being from the suburbs in general and being from Logan particularly means that I have an understanding of the realities of life in communities like ours.

“For me personally, there’s a real sense of responsibility for the hard task ahead.”

Pauline Hanson in shock fight for seat

Pauline Hanson could be a shock casualty of the federal election, with the conservative senator battling Legalise Cannabis Australia for the final Queensland Senate seat.

Senator Hanson’s party has secured 7.82 per cent of the vote compared to the Legalise Cannabis Australia’s 6.72 per cent.

The conservative Queensland senator contracted Covid-19 during the final week of the election, forcing her to campaign from her southeast Queensland home.

Six Queensland senate seats are up for grabs.

Pauline Hanson is battling Legalise Cannabis Australia for the final Queensland Senate seat. Picture: Steve Pohlner

Liberal Senators James McGrath and Matt Canavan will be re-elected but third-placed Liberal Senator Amanda Stoker will lose.

Senator Stoker, a conservative champion for the Coalition, had appealed to the Christian right during the campaign - even attending an anti-abortion rally in Brisbane.

Labor’s Murray Watt will retain his spot while second-placed Senator Anthony Chisholm faces a close battle to be re-elected.

The fifth spot is likely to be won by the Greens’ Penny Allman-Payne with the party securing 14.07 per cent of the vote.

Senator Hanson is in a fight with Legalise Cannabis Australia’s Bernard Bradley for the sixth and final spot.

Billionaire Clive Palmer is likely to miss out on election to the Senate despite the United Australia Party spending more than $100 million on the campaign.

Former Queensland Premier and Liberal Democrats candidate Campbell Newman hasn’t revived his political career, securing just 2.40 per cent of the vote.

Entsch: Liberals must do ‘a lot of reflection’

Veteran Queensland MP Warren Entsch has committed to serving a full term despite the Coalition being chucked into Opposition, saying the party had “a lot of reflection” to do.

Mr Entsch, who has held the far north Queensland seat of Leichhardt on and off since 1996, is one of the few remaining moderates within the decimated Liberal Party.

He faced a challenge from Labor’s Elida Faith, who Mr Entsch said he had great respect for, but ultimately suffered only a 2 per cent swing against him.

Mr Entsch had reneged on his commitment to retire, fuelling rumours the Coalition going into Opposition would open the door to him leaving despite retaining Leichhardt against the odds.

“I don’t do things half measure,” he said.

“I’m good for the long run.”

Warren Entsch said he will serve his full term despite losing his seat of Leichhardt to Labor’s Elida Faith. Picture: Brian Cassey

Mr Entsch said the idea he had committed to stay on for the 2022 election was because the then-Prime Minister had requested it of him was false.

“In 2019 I said righto, I’ll hang up the spurs, spend my last term focusing on climate and on plastics,” he said.

“When I made that commitment I did not know there was a pandemic sitting around the corner… and I think (Cairns and the areas of Leichhardt) will be the last ones to recover.

“My constituents pleaded with me not to step down, you know, they had a very strong argument.

“I felt I owed it to my community to give it a go.”

Mr Entsch confirmed he spoke to Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg about his decision not to retire, and while they were excited he informed them it would come with “costs”, and that he wanted the reinsurance pool and microgrids for the Daintree made a reality before the election.

Mr Entsch paid homage to his Labor challenger Ms Faith, saying she was an “absolute delight” to campaign against and it was clear her volunteers outnumbered his on the ground five-to-one.

Brisbane on knife’s edge

The seat of Brisbane could remain on a knife-edge for several days, with Labor and the Greens in a tight race for victory over the LNP.

Only small updates to the count are expected Sunday, with the Australian Electoral Commission focused on transporting and sorting votes.

LNP’s Trevor Evans will be defeated but it’s not yet clear if Labor or the Greens will win the seat of Brisbane. Picture: Josh Woning

In the key seat of Brisbane the LNP’s Trevor Evans will be defeated, but it’s still unclear whether that will be at the hands of Labor or the Greens.

If Greens candidate Stephen Bates remains ahead of Labor’s Madonna Jarrett on the primary vote he will likely win the seat.

As of midnight Saturday Mr Bates had secured 20,844 primary votes compared to Ms Jarrett’s 20,262.

It’s enough to give the Greens a tentative 55-44 two-candidate-preferred margin over the LNP.

The Greens have already claimed the seat of Griffith from Labor’s Terri Butler and Ryan from the LNP’s Julian Simmonds.

Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers said the count would continue, albeit slower, on Sunday.

“We’ll have small postal vote counts appearing in the AEC tally room throughout the day, starting from this morning,” he said.

“Postal vote counts started on the Tuesday after election day in 2019 but we’ve brought that forward in recognition of the large volume and our ability this election to sort them earlier than in the past.

“These indicative postal vote counts early in the count period can provide an important trend for analysts.”

Labor ‘dissatisfied’ with key candidate

Labor has been “dissatisfied” with Terri Butler’s performance at a local level, a senior party insider has claimed as they said her seat of Griffith was “gone”.

“The real truth can be seen by comparing Labor’s vote in local government and state elections with Terri’s vote federally,” they said.

Terri Butler at Morningside State School on Saturday. Picture: Richard Walker

Greens candidate Max Chandler-Mather is currently leading in the South East Queensland seat with almost 28,000 first preference votes and a 12.78 per cent swing towards him.

In Brisbane, where the vote is still on a knife’s edge, the insider said they were confident Madonna Jarrett would win.

“We’ve done a very good job ... (with) our postal votes in Brisbane,” they said.

And they said the vote had swung back towards Labor in Queensland’s regional seats following the party’s 2019 drubbing which would likely bode well for them at the next federal election.