Queensland Premier Steven Miles will ‘test numbers’, leaving door open to minority government

Steven Miles will turn to the Greens and Katter’s Australian Party for support if he fails to win enough seats to govern in his own right on October 26.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles kicks off the election with a visit to Government House on Tuesday. Picture: Adam Head/NewsWire

Steven Miles will turn to the Greens and Katter’s Australian Party for support if he fails to win enough seats to govern in his own right on October 26, leaving the door open to forming a minority government in Queensland.

Despite claiming there would be “no deals, no coalition governments”, the Premier said it was customary for an incumbent government to test its support with the vote on the floor of parliament if neither party won the ­required 47 seats.

It comes as LNP leader David Crisafulli emphatically ruled out a power-sharing deal, declaring: “The answer is categorically no.”

He told reporters: “I cannot be more direct. Queenslanders need confidence, they need certainty, they need a fresh start. They don’t need horse-trading.”

Labor wrested power from the LNP and formed a minority government in 2015 with the help of independent Peter Wellington, despite then-leader Annastacia Palaszczuk ruling out negotiating any deals to secure power during the election campaign.

“Let me make it very clear: no, no, no, no deals. Next question,” Ms Palaszczuk said during the 2015 campaign.

On Tuesday, Mr Miles said he had endured three years of minority government during Ms Palaszczuk’s first term and he had “no intention” of leading one of his own.

“I can categorically rule out any deals with any minor party,” he said. But pressed about his comments earlier in the day on ABC Radio about “testing the numbers on the floor of parliament”, Mr Miles said: “Well that is the process. If the people of Queensland return a different parliamentary makeup and if ­neither party can make a majority, then the existing government tests its numbers on the floor of the parliament – that is how it works.”

If Mr Miles took a vote to parliament without negotiating a deal with minor parties, he would risk reigning over a dysfunctional government with the crossbench and opposition able to pass motions censuring ministers or oppose every piece of legislation aside from the budget.

“The political reality is you would be forced to deal or risk total instability,” one well-placed source said.

In the event of a hung parliament, Robbie Katter, leader of Katter’s Australian Party, would be most likely to hold the balance of power, commanding four of the seven current crossbench votes.

The Greens hold two Brisbane seats and have said they would use any balance of power to negotiate stronger rights for renters.