Queensland election: Steven Miles and David Crisafulli’s final pitch to voters

Tick, tick, tick. Suddenly there weren’t enough hours in the last day of a dramatically altered Queensland election as Steven Miles and David Crisafulli both pitched for late votes that could make all the difference.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli. Picture: NewsWire / John Gass

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Tick, tick, tick. Suddenly there weren’t enough hours in the last day of a dramatically altered Queensland election as Steven Miles and David Crisafulli both cracked on the pace, pitching for late votes that could make all the difference.

With the clock winding down in this fast and furious 26-day campaign, the leaders tapped their physical reserves to push through the night and into the early hours of polling day. Voting booths were to open across the nation’s most decentralised state at 8am on Saturday.

A rejuvenated Mr Miles, buoyed by Newspoll’s finding that Labor had closed the gap on the Liberal National Party, vowed to complete a blitz of 36 electorates in 36 hours and surf his new-found momentum home.

Mr Crisafulli, who was out of bed at 3.15am to fit in an exercise session, renewed his warning that the LNP had to “climb a massive mountain” to secure the 12 additional seats needed to ­regain power in Queensland after nearly a decade in the ­wilderness.

“That’s only been done a handful of times,” he said.

What looked like a done deal for the LNP and its 45-year-old leader at the outset of the campaign tightened into a genuine contest after Mr Crisafulli’s detail-light “small target” strategy bombed with voters.

Asked on Friday whether he was at risk of losing the unlosable election, he said: “I have relentlessly led a team that has spoken about the big four crises, and we have put forward solutions for all of them,” referencing his focus on youth crime, healthcare, cost of living and housing affordability.

While The Australian’s exclusive election-eve Newspoll predicts a change of government, Mr ­Crisafulli faces the prospect of winning with a knife-edge ­majority at best or governing in minority with the support of Katter’s Australian Party.

Labor is clinging to the hope that an 11th-hour intensification of the swing its way could save the day for Mr Miles, 46, who took over as Premier from Annastacia Palaszczuk only 10 months ago and exceeded most expectations with his strong performance on the campaign trail.

Labor Premier Steven Miles tries his hand at a jet ski at Southport on the Gold Coast during a final campaign dash across 36 electorates in 36 hours. Picture: Adam Head

In a final pitch to voters, Mr Miles went after his opponent for not being upfront about what the LNP would do in government.

“There is so much doubt about where the LNP stands on every single front,” he said. “David Crisafulli has dodged questions this entire campaign. He can’t give anyone a straight answer, and with change comes risk.

“So, if you can’t be sure, then you need to vote Labor because it is Labor that you know. It’s me that you know.”

Mr Crisafulli urged Queenslanders to “vote for a fresh start”.

“As we go around Queensland – and I’ve spent four years doing it – Queenslanders overwhelmingly know they deserve better than what they’re getting, and they ­deserve change,” he said.

“We have been united and ­focused, very disciplined for a long time, and Queenslanders have seen a government crumble ­before their eyes. If you want a fresh start, you’ve got to vote for change.”

Mr Crisafulli again ruled out any deal with the crossbench to govern in minority. “I can’t be more categoric – the answer is no,” he said when questioned about Friday’s Newspoll.

It showed that the 10-point lead the LNP had on Labor at the outset of the campaign had halved, while Mr Miles’ personal approval numbers had surged to overtake Mr Crisafulli on the measure of better premier. Mr Crisafulli said this demonstrated “how tough” the election was.

David Crisafulli grabs a selfie at Golden Beach, Caloundra. Picture: Liam Kidston

“I come back to what I repeatedly said: we are trying to climb a massive mountain here, we need more than a dozen seats and that’s only been done a handful of times,” he said.

“Of the last 12 general elections in this state, we’ve won one. So you can forgive me for getting up earlier and working harder.”

Mr Miles also rejected the possibility Labor would cut a formal deal to govern with the Greens or KAP – the minority party best placed to add to its existing roster of three MPs headed by Robbie Katter – but left open the option of a less binding ­arrangement if the election delivered a hung result. “Let’s see what the (next) parliament looks like,” he said.

After beginning his day on the Gold Coast, where the Labor-held seat of Gaven is in play, the Premier donned boardshorts to take to the water on a jet ski. He went on to barnstorm Labor seats in Brisbane, including southside Mansfield (6.8 per cent) Stretton (14.8 per cent), Toohey (14.5 per cent) and ultrasafe Woodridge held by Deputy Premier and Treasurer Cameron Dick on a margin of 26.25 per cent.

Mr Crisafulli’s whirlwind itinerary opened early on the Sunshine Coast, where he joined child safety advocates Bruce and Denise Morcombe for an annual walk held in memory of their murdered son, Daniel. One of Mr Crisafulli’s key election promises is for a new public child sex offender register, to be known as “Daniel’s Law”.

From there, he went on the ­attack, targeting seats the LNP is hoping to snatch from Labor, including Caloundra (2.51 per cent), Pumicestone (5.27 per cent), Redcliffe (6.11 per cent), Pine Rivers (6.7 per cent) and Bancroft (12.8 per cent).

Asked what his legacy would be if Labor lost the election, a philosophical Mr Miles said: “Whenever I stop being Queensland’s Premier I hope that Queensland does look at my time and see that I didn’t waste a minute and that I did my very best.”