Bart Mellish in fight of his life to retain seat of Aspley

Former Transport Minister Bart Mellish is ahead by the slimmest of margins with the seat of Aspley still in the balance.

Bart Mellish

Former Transport Minister Bart Mellish is in the fight of his life to retain the bellwether seat of Aspley as vote counting continues across a handful of knife edge electorates.

LNP sources said preference flows in Aspley on Friday indicated Mr Mellish was just ahead of contender Amanda Cooper.

Whichever way it falls the northern seat is likely to become the state’s most marginal electorate, replacing Bundaberg.

It’s understood Mr Mellish is ahead by a wafer thin 38 votes, with a bundle of postal votes still to come in.

Meanwhile the result in South Brisbane has tightened with Green sources saying there was only 100 votes between LNP and Labor. If the LNP jump into the second spot Labor’s preferences will push Greens MP Amy MacMahon back into parliament.

But LNP insiders are of the view it is unlikely their candidate will leap frog Labor’s Barbara O’Shea.

Mulgrave, the seat of former Speaker Curtis Pitt, remains on a knife’s edge amid a preference salad that could deliver a slim chance of the Katter’s Australian Party pushing above the LNP.

As it stands the LNP are ahead and will take the seat barring a come-from-behind surge by the KAP.

Originally published as Bart Mellish in fight of his life to retain seat of Aspley