Campbell Newman’s Government slammed in ReachTEL poll

HOT TOPIC: A fresh poll shock for the Newman Government shows how many of the LNP’s 73 members could be lost - and the likely fate of the Premier himself. COMMENTS 600+

PREMIER Campbell Newman is battling to save his political life, with a growing number of Queenslanders turning against his fight-prone administration.

A ReachTEL poll has revealed up to 40 of the Newman Government’s 73 MPs face being turfed out of office at next year’s election, including Mr Newman from his inner-city seat of Ashgrove.

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A succession of bitter disputes, including the clash with the legal fraternity over Tim Carmody’s appointment as chief justice, is being blamed internally for the parlous state of the Government’s support.

Conducted for The Sunday Mail and Channel 7, the poll of almost 1900 Queenslanders found the LNP’s primary support had slipped from 40.9 per cent to 38.7 per cent in a month.

It means almost 270,000 voters have abandoned the Newman Government since the 2012 election – a figure equivalent to the entire population of the Sunshine Coast.

Labor’s vote has inched forward to 34.4 per cent, a 7.7 per cent increase since 2012.

The spectre of Clive Palmer looms large at the election, with ReachTEL revealing support for his party had hit 15.4 per cent, closing in on the vote snared by One Nation in 1998.

On a two-party-preferred basis, the LNP has the slimmest of leads over Labor at 51 per cent to 49 per cent.

Such a result would mean a statewide swing of 11.8 per cent, enough for Labor to triumph in 40 LNP seats and sneak back into office after being annihilated at the last election.

But such uniform swings rarely occur, and it is not known if the Palmer United Party would swap support with Labor or the LNP or adopt a “just vote one” strategy.

It means PUP could play kingmaker in some seats, which would strike fear into the LNP given Mr Palmer’s cantankerous relationship with Mr Newman.

But the LNP’s greatest issue remains growing disquiet with Mr Newman. According to ReachTEL, the number of people who thought his efforts were poor or very poor was 53.1 per cent. And 2.4 per cent said they had never heard of him.

Last week, Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney conceded the Government’s reform agenda may have been “too much, too quick”.

Originally published as Campbell Newman’s Government slammed in ReachTEL poll