Queensland election 2017: Final poll predicts grudging nod for Labor
MOST Queenslanders don’t believe Annastacia Palaszczuk deserves a second term, but have resigned themselves to a Labor victory at today’s state election.
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MOST Queenslanders don’t believe Annastacia Palaszczuk deserves a second term, but have resigned themselves to a Labor victory at today’s state election.
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After the leaders yesterday blitzed crucial southeast corner marginal seats, the exclusive Courier-Mail Galaxy poll reveals two out of three Queenslanders are unimpressed with Ms Palaszczuk’s efforts in high office.
The findings come as Labor was under fire for its $500 million election-eve tax heist with warnings that the revenue grab would hit ordinary Queenslanders in the hip pocket.
It was also revealed Labor had raided another $800 million from Government entities, used dubious debt figures to dress up its election costings and pushed out the cost of much-hyped M1 upgrades beyond the Budget.
“The last election I had to climb Mount Everest and I think I’m going to have to climb Mount Everest again,” Ms Palaszczuk said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls, who has postponed the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail to fund many of his commitments, bumbled his way through a breakfast television interview in which he almost inadvertently advocated a vote for One Nation.
“It’s been a long campaign, I was simply going to say that you need to vote one for your local LNP candidate, as I’ve said probably 500 times during this election campaign,” he later said.
After Galaxy research also showed One Nation’s support had slipped during the campaign, Pauline Hanson rejected the findings, despite trumpeting the results when they indicated enormous backing nine months ago.
The Courier-Mail Galaxy poll showed Labor leading the LNP 52 per cent to 48 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis, although preference flows from One Nation will be crucial to the seat count of the major parties.
While pundits are predicting the LNP won’t be able to form government in its own right, the party is confident it will defy expectation and advance its numbers through strong preference flow across the state.
Labor faces losses in the regions, but could pick up enough replacement seats in the southeast corner to avoid any wheeling and dealing with crossbench MPs after backflipping on a promise not to do deals after the 2015 election.
And there’s mounting concern independents may snare seats such as Noosa and Macalister from the major parties.
The latest Courier-Mail Galaxy poll findings show Queenslanders are unconvinced about Ms Palaszczuk’s efforts governing over the past three years, following a tumultuous term in which two MPs joined the crossbench and four ministers resigned.
The poll of more than 1500 voters from across the state found that 46 per cent thought Ms Palaszczuk did not deserve to be re-elected today while a further 18 per cent were uncommitted.
Just over one in three back Ms Palaszczuk’s re-election.
The split mirrors voting intentions and indicates One Nation supporters, which number one in five voters in regional Queensland, were more likely to put the LNP higher than Labor on their ballot papers.
Sentiment against the minority Palaszczuk Government’s efforts was strongest among males at 52 per cent and those aged over 50 years at 53 per cent.
However, 44 per cent of Queenslanders expected Ms Palaszczuk would be re-elected today compared with 28 per cent for Mr Nicholls.
Women were more confident that the Labor leader would be returned at 46 per cent, along with people aged 35 to 49 years at 49 per cent. Despite a rocky start to her campaign, 39 per cent of voters believed Ms Palaszczuk performed better during the 28-day election campaign compared with 28 per cent for Mr Nicholls.
However, more than one in three remained uncommitted about the performance of either leader in a clear sign many Queenslanders did not engage in the day-to-day political battle.
Originally published as Queensland election 2017: Final poll predicts grudging nod for Labor
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