Parties set to reap millions in reimbursements from ECQ

The windfall the major parties are set to be reimbursed, based on their number of primary votes, has been revealed.

A Queensland polling booth at the weekend

The LNP stand to be reimbursed nearly $10m in election funding after its primary vote surged on the path to toppling Labor for the first time in nearly 10 years.

Under Queensland’s state election funding rules, a registered party and its candidate stand to be paid a combined $9.99 for every vote as long as they polled 4 per cent or more in an electorate.

On early estimates the LNP looks likely to claw back about $10m in election funding, with the party securing nearly 986,000 votes as of Monday evening, with postal votes — which tend to sway their way — still to come in.

Labor in turn has secured an estimated $7.6m based on current figures of about 761,000 votes.

Katter’s Australian Party will bank about $588,000 after securing nearly 59,000 across the 11 electorates it ran candidates in.

The lowest KAP vote share was 7.7 per cent in the Burdekin.

One Nation, which ran a candidate in every seat, received about 186,000 votes but did not secure 4 per cent in every seat — including South Brisbane.

Meanwhile the Greens, which also ran a candidate in every seat, garnered 215,525 first-preferences votes as of Monday evening.

They too did not secure 4 per cent of the vote share in every electorate, missing out in places like Callide.

Independents who secured more than 4 per cent of the vote would receive $3.33 per person who supported them at the ballot box.

Queensland’s sole successful independent, Sandy Bolton in Noosa, is on track to be reimbursed just under $40,000 after securing 11,645 votes as of Monday night. She is re-elected for a third term.

Originally published as Parties set to reap millions in reimbursements from ECQ