Election results 2016: Queensland in limbo

MALCOLM Turnbull’s strategists are not ruling out challenges and recounts in Queensland, where four out of 12 seats remain in limbo.

MALCOLM Turnbull’s strategists are not ruling out challenges and recounts in Queensland, where four out of 12 seats remain in limbo.

The Prime Minister is banking on tens of thousands of postal and early votes in the state to help return him to office.

The victors in Forde, Herbert, Capricornia and Petrie ­remain unclear, with counting not restarting until tomorrow, and results not expected until the end of the week.

Nationally, Chisholm, La Trobe and Dunkley in Victoria, Cowan in Western Australia, Hindmarsh and Grey in South Australia, and Robertson and Gilmore in NSW are in play.

But junior Minister Wyatt Roy, whose loss in Longman has shocked his good mate Mr Turnbull, told The Courier-Mail he would not concede.

There are about 12,000 postal votes to count and about 5000 votes ruled invalid, which will likely be challenged, The Courier-Mail understands.

Mr Roy said the result would rest upon the postal votes and could come down to the wire.

In previous elections, incumbents have been behind after all polling booths have been counted, but still won.

In Herbert, LNP incumbent Ewen Jones was hopeful a large postal vote would get him over the line.

LNP strategists were confident they would hold Capricornia and Flynn in Central Queensland, Petrie, just north of Brisbane, and Forde, which includes the battler suburbs of Loganlea and Beenleigh.

Across the state, the LNP polled 53 per cent on two-party preferred, leaving MPs hopeful their marginal colleagues would get across the line.

But ALP Queensland state secretary Evan Moorhead said he was “optimistic” Labor would pick up Flynn, Capricornia and Longman.

Whoever wins the seats have been put on notice by Queenslanders, whose vote will leave the state even more volatile. The margins will be wafer-thin and non-performing MPs face being turfed out.

The Australian Electoral Commission will automatically recount seats if the margin of votes after the distribution of preferences is less than 100.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the LNP was hurt by Treasurer Scott Morrison’s superannuation changes, with Conservative voters telling party headquarters they would vote for the LNP in the House of Representative but vote for someone else in the Senate, to prevent the Bill from passing.

Griffith University political analyst Paul Williams said the election result would not be known for eight to 10 days, with the final negotiations to form a minority government expected to take weeks.

Dr Williams said the election showed Mr Turnbull ­became less appealing in Queensland the further away he got from the capital.