Queensland election results 2017: Labor on cusp of claiming victory

PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk could finally declare victory in the Queensland election as early as today — but the Opposition has other ideas.

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LABOR has declared victory in the Gold Coast seat of Gaven, the final seat it needed to form majority Government.

The announcement means Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk could be on track to claim a second term in office as early as today.

But with counting continuing across several seats and the Liberal National Party yet to concede defeat, she may still have to wait several days.

An LNP spokesman said it was unlikely Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls would concede defeat today.

The spokesman said the party was still waiting for preferences to be distributed in a raft of seats, including in Townsville where Labor remains just in front of the LNP.

The Electoral Commission Queensland has counted about 87 per cent of the votes so far, and has officially declared 32 of the 93 seats statewide, of which 17 belong to Labor.

Child Safety advocate Hetty Johnston also took to Twitter late yesterday to concede defeat to Labor’s Melissa McMahon in the new seat of Macalister, south of Brisbane.

Labor is counting on wins in Gaven and Macalister as well as in seats such as Aspley, Mount Ommaney, Mansfield, Redlands, Jordan, Bancroft, Cairns and Cook to cancel out its losses and secure a majority to govern in its own right.

The ALP remains about 71 primary votes behind the Greens in Maiwar, with the minor party firming to claim its first election win in the state arena.

The news came comes as Labor’s Burdekin candidate Mike Brunker – who is set to lose to the LNP – slammed compulsory preferential voting despite his own party introducing it.

Mr Brunker leads the primary vote by about 1000 but will likely lose to the LNP’s Dale Last following the distribution of preferences.

He said if there was a first-past-the-post system, he and ousted Labor member for Mirani Jim Pearce would be in Parliament.

“Instead, you’ve run your 100-yard sprint, you’ve got past the tape in front and the judge comes out and says to the person in third, ‘who do you want to win?’ – it’s absurd,” he said.

The Labor Government introduced compulsory preferential voting to Parliament with less than 20 minutes’ notice during the last term.

Demanding a recount in his electorate, Mr Brunker also hit out against the ECQ, questioning whether it could be trusted.

Originally published as Queensland election results 2017: Labor on cusp of claiming victory