YouGov polling shows third of Queenslanders believe state heading in wrong direction

More than a third of Queenslanders believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, a shock poll result that has traditionally pointed to voter preference for a change of government.

More than a third of Queenslanders believe the state is headed in the wrong direction, a shock result that shows people have moved on from Covid and are now worried about other things.

The exclusive YouGov poll conducted for The Courier-Mail reveals 39 per cent of Queenslanders now say things are going the wrong way — the highest result on that measure since early February 2020, when Covid was yet to properly hit.

But on the flip side, 41 per cent of Queenslanders still think the state is heading in the right direction – down from 54 per cent on the eve of the October 2020 election, but still much higher than the 31 per cent who thought that at the start of that year.

Exclusive YouGov polling reveals that 39 per cent of Queenslanders think the state is heading in the wrong direction.

The Courier-Mail has since 2011 been periodically asking through YouGov whether Queenslanders think the state is heading in the right or wrong direction.

The net result has been a lead indicator of a change of government – with a minus-3 result just before Campbell Newman’s LNP won in 2012, and a plus-11 score before Annastacia Palaszczuk won in 2015.

The net result had slumped to as low as minus-15 before the pandemic hit, after which Ms Palaszczuk made great political capital out of “keeping Queenslanders safe” from the virus.

It was plus-27 on the eve of the October 2020 election, won easily by Ms Palaszczuk’s Labor Party.

In the poll taken last week, the net result had slumped to just +2.

The Palaszczuk Government’s average score over its seven years in office has been +7.2.

In its first term, the average net result on this question was +8.5 – and that slumped to +5.3 in its second term, despite the highs of 2020.

The poll also revealed that the three biggest issues for Queenslanders today are also the areas where voters think the Palaszczuk Government is doing the least to help with.

It found one in two Queenslanders think the Premier is enjoying the high life, but also that the same proportion think she still works hard.

And it revealed Labor’s primary vote has slumped five points this year to 34 per cent, compared to the LNP on 38 per cent.

Queensland would face a hung parliament if an election were to be held today, the poll concluded.

Labor’s primary vote is now six points below what it recorded on election day in October 2020.

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