Queensland suburbs send Albanese a huge warning

Labor’s vote collapse in outer Brisbane seats at the Queensland election has fuelled the Coalition’s hopes of gaining ground in suburban areas across the country when the federal poll is held next year.

Labor’s vote collapse in outer Brisbane seats at the Queensland election has fuelled the Coalition’s hopes of gaining significant ground in suburban areas nationally at the next federal poll, where cost of living will remain the number one issue for voters.

Senior ALP figures said the result on Saturday, where the Liberal National Party were elected to govern Queensland having spent 30 of the last 35 years in opposition, showed the critical importance of getting economic policy settings and messages right as voters struggling with soaring living costs are primed to turn against incumbents.

As the ongoing vote count continued to consolidate the LNP’s historic victory, outgoing Labor Premier Steven Miles was criticised for failing to immediately concede his opponents had won during his speech on election night.

ALP stalwart Graham Richardson said Mr Miles had given a “boofheaded performance,” that was “as graceless as it was pathetic”.

Mr Miles defended his comments on Sunday, saying at the time it was not clear the LNP would get enough seats to form majority government and admitted that had since become the case.

LNP leader David Crisafulli celebrates victory in the Queensland election. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

Across the state, Queensland Labor suffered an average primary swing against it of just under 7 per cent, with inner city areas performing significantly better than the regions and outer suburbs.

Redbridge pollster Kos Samaras said while there has historically been a separation between state and federal voting patterns, the Queensland result fed into an emerging “consistent trend” across elections in multiples states that Labor’s primary vote was falling in the outer suburbs.

“Whenever presented with an opportunity, the lower-income constituents Labor has relied on in this areas will grab it with both hands, and if there’s no independent or other alternative the vote goes all over the place,” he said.

“They’re in the departure lounge, but they’re not sure where to go.”

Mr Samaras said while many of these once-safe Labor outer suburban communities were still saying they “can’t vote Liberal,” the current trend would make outer west Melbourne and western Sydney difficult for the Albanese Government.

The Labor Party, led by Steven Miles, suffered a seven per cent swing against it. Picture: NewsWire/Tertius Pickard

He said the challenge for Mr Albanese and Opposition leader Peter Dutton would be who can sufficiently realign themselves as representing the economic interests of the voters who have now had “years of personal economic decline under both parties”.

The silver lining in the Queensland result for Mr Albanese was a collapse in support for the Greens in inner city seats, which has bolstered both Labor and the Coalition’s hopes of retaking electorates lost to the party at the 2022 federal election.

The city seat of Brisbane has been tapped as his best chance for a gain, while Labor figures are closely watching Leichhardt in the far north where long-serving Liberal MP Warren Entsch is retiring.

Mr Albanese will also be on the hunt in the Brisbane suburban seats of Bonner and Longman, but swings against state Labor in the regional centre of Ipswich have put the federal seat of Blair on the Coalition’s radar.

Mr Albanese will visit Brisbane on Monday where he will deliver a speech at the Mining and Energy Union Convention, telling the members only Labor would deliver higher wages for Australian workers.

“As we speak, there are pay rises in the pipeline for thousands of mining workers in New South Wales and Queensland,” he will say.

Labor’s “Same Job, Same Pay” laws are due to come into effect on November 1, which Mr Albanese will warn would be under threat if Mr Dutton won government.

“He wants to rip up every new right workers have negotiated,” he will say.

“And wants to cut every pay rise your members have earned.”