Counting close in three Queensland seats

The makeup of the next Queensland parliament is firming as counting in three electorates goes down to the wire.

Burdekin MP Dale Last.

The make-up of the next Queensland parliament is firming as counting in three electorates goes down to the wire.

The Liberal National Party is slightly ahead in two seats, which it previously held, while Labor is ahead in the Sunshine Coast hinter­land electorate of Nicklin.

If the trend continues before the final accepted arrival of postal votes on Tuesday afternoon, Labor will have 51 seats in parliament, compared with the LNP’s 35 — a net loss of three for the conservatives after the party won back Whitsunday.

The seven-member crossbench will consist of three from Katter’s Australian Party, two from the Greens, one from One Nation and independent Sandy Bolton.

The lead in Bundaberg and Currumbin has seesawed since election night. As of Monday, Bundaberg incumbent David Batt was 100-plus votes ahead of Labor’s candidate, Tom Smith.

Despite winning a Currumbin by-election in February, incumbent Laura Gerber appears to have only narrowly survived a swing against her of more than 3 per cent.

As of Monday afternoon, Labor had won 39.6 per cent of the primary vote, compared to the LNP’s 35.8 per cent, 7.1 per cent for One Nation, 2.5 per cent for KAP and 9.4 per cent for the Greens.

The final results were reflected in polls in the lead-up to the election and were within the 3.1 per cent margin of error.

Labor’s result was slightly higher than the result in the two Newspolls conducted in October, which gave the party a 37 per cent primary vote.

The Newspoll conducted between October 25 and 30 had the LNP at 36 per cent, the Greens at 11 per cent and One Nation at 10 per cent.

Finalisation of results will allow the LNP to hold a partyroom meeting, likely on Thursday, to vote for its next leader and deputy.