Queensland Election results 2017: Mine pushes minor closer to historic win

THE Adani coal mine looms as the potential trump card for a greens candidate in a seat that remains in limbo but in which LNP frontbencher Scott Emerson is under serious threat of being booted from Parliament.

Greens Michael Berkman votes today -Twitter

THE southeast electorate of Maiwar was in limbo last night as LNP frontbencher Scott Emerson faced the prospect of being booted from Parliament.

AS IT HAPPENED: Election results and rolling coverage

An unexpected surge to the Greens in the newly created seat had candidate Michael Berkman securing more than 28 per cent of the primary vote with about 61 per cent counted.

Labor’s Ali King had also won just over 28 per cent of the primary vote, while Mr Emerson was sitting firm on 41 per cent in a tight three-way race.

Mr Berkman last night described the vote as excruciatingly close and said it could be days before an outcome was known.

“I suppose the message we would take from that is there is an extraordinary level of dissatisfaction with the LNP and with the Labor Party,” he said. “We’re not just taking seats and threatening seats held by Labor.

“We’re actually equally as much as a threat to dissatisfied voters who would traditionally go with the LNP.”

A win for either the Greens or Labor in Maiwar would be a major coup and lead to the removal of Mr Emerson from Parliament. He has been an MP since 2009 and was transport minister in the Newman Government.

Mr Berkman said the Adani coal mine and a desire for reform to the planning system were among issues raised by voters as he doorknocked across the electorate.

LNP member Scott Emerson is at risk of losing his place in parliament. Picture: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt

“We’ve heard a really loud and clear message that people don’t want Adani to go ahead (during the campaign),” he said. “This is the case whether you’re talking to traditionally Labor voters or LNP voters.”

Ms King told The Sunday Mail just after polls closed yesterday that it would be foolish to predict an outcome in the three-way contest.

“The people in Maiwar have told me overwhelmingly that they’re really unhappy and worried about the prospect of a One Nation-LNP coalition,” she said.

“I’ve just been focusing on talking to voters as much as possible and getting out on the doors and on the phones.”

Maiwar was created during the electoral redistribution and took in the seats of Indooroopilly and Mount Coot-tha – which Labor’s Steven Miles held before relocating to the electorate of Murrumba.

Other key seats the Greens had been looking to were South Brisbane and McConnel.

Originally published as Queensland Election results 2017: Mine pushes minor closer to historic win