YouGov poll: Premier admits he’s ‘very likely’ to lose

Premier Steven Miles admits he’s “very likely” to lose the state election in October in a stunning claim made in the wake of dire new polling.

Premier Steven Miles admits he’s “very likely” to lose the state election in October in a stunning claim made in the wake of dire new polling.

The premier, speaking from regional Queensland, acknowledged YouGov poll results published by The Courier-Mail on Friday showed Opposition Leader David Crisafulli would win the next state election.

Labor trails the LNP on a 56-44 two-party margin and its primary vote has plunged 13 points since the 2020 election.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles.

Mr Miles said polling indicated it was now “more likely, very likely” the LNP would defeat Labor and Mr Crisafulli would be the new premier within months.

His comment drew a mixed reaction among some Labor MPs, who said while it was “not inspiring”, argued Mr Miles was simply detailing the reality.

The premier used the savage polling – in which 53 per cent of Queenslanders said the state was heading in the wrong direction – to call out the LNP leader’s lack of policies.

“The most likely outcome in October is that David Crisafulli will be the new premier,” he said.

“He has still not detailed a single actual plan for our state.

“It’s not good enough to just fly town-to-town, take selfies and roll out your slick slogans – you need a plan for the state.”

“He wants to be a small target, I know he wants to stay as tiny as he can so that Queenslanders don’t know what his plans are.”

Premier Steven Miles at the Anzac Day Parade march in the Brisbane City. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Mr Miles later appeared alongside Labor’s Bundaberg MP Tom Smith, who holds the state’s most marginal seat by five votes.

The premier was asked whether his prediction of defeat would meant Mr Smith was all-but-certain to lose his job.

“As Tom knows, I am campaigning and working just as hard as I can and we are determined to win this election,” Mr Miles said.

Mr Crisafulli on Friday played down the poll result and argued the LNP would “remain the underdog” come October.

“History shows what needs to occur to change government Queensland is huge and it’s tough,” he said.

“The struggle for us in winning those seats and changing government is a big one and I just can’t stress enough, the task ahead remains a massive one.”

Deputy Premier Cameron Dick, who Labor insiders hope will help reverse the party’s fortunes at his June budget, joined Mr Miles in attacking the LNP.

Premier Steven Miles admits it is “likely” Labor will lose in October.

“I think we’ve got more work to do very clearly to expose David Crisafulli’s secret plan to cut and to expose what his three-word slogans actually mean,” he said.

“The message out of the poll for me and for other members of the government is that we need to do much more work to expose David Crisafulli.”

Mr Dick insisted his budget would be solely focused on cost of living relief.

“That’s not about saving the Labor government, it’s not about our government, it’s about the people of Queensland,” he said.

“We’re going to use our resources as a government to support those Queenslanders and their families by putting cost of living relief absolutely central to our budget in June,” he said.

Additional reporting by Nicole Strathdee and Madeline Grace