Queensland election results 2017: Labor predictions come true

THE final week frenzy of chasing votes and pitching arguments looks like having been mostly a wasted ­effort, says Dennis Atkins.

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THE Queensland conservative curse has struck again.

The state that stopped John Howard from winning an initial prime ministership 30 years ago, and took him again to the brink in 2001, has now thrown down an existential challenge to Malcolm Turnbull.

This state election is an absolute shocker for the LNP.

They haven’t just been beaten, they’ve been flogged.

To have a swing of 7.5 per cent against an Opposition in the face of an underperforming, lacklustre Labor Government bereft of ideas is an indictment of the LNP.

They should hand in their licence to be a grown-up political party.

In the so-called old Liberal heartland – Brisbane and its surrounds – the Liberals have been whipped.

They lost their treasury spokesman Scott Emerson in the leafy western suburbs – to either Labor or the Greens – and even leader Tim Nicholls had an embarrassing six- point swing against him.

Labor has made inroads on the Gold Coast for the first time since the Beattie era, building what could be a valuable beachhead.

The damage to the LNP wasn’t just in the southeast. They also lost votes and seats in the regions, even failing to capitalise on the pro-development Adani vote in and around Townsville.

This will send shockwaves through LNP ranks, just as the first big Beattie win did in 2001.

The statewide swing against Labor was a touch under 2 per cent which is extraordinary given the lack of enthusiasm for Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Government – a justifiable sentiment after three years of at best mediocre performance.

The LNP, meanwhile, hasn’t been able to make anything of all this. In fact, all they’ve done is pump a One Nation vote that was just over half what Pauline Hanson’s party thought would be the lower end of expectations.

This shows what a giant tactical blunder it was for the LNP to give One Nation preferences in almost 50 seats.

The depth of the LNP flogging is seen not in the southeast but in the regions where in many seats the party finished not first or second but third and fourth.

This is a collapse across the board and will provoke plenty of soul-searching.

Originally published as Queensland election results 2017: Labor predictions come true