LNP poised to roll Labor but clairvoyant croc, Jack the Ripper, snaps at Miles as his pick to win Qld election

David Crisafulli will have to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a feisty Far North croc tipping a shock Labor win on Saturday.

David Crisafulli will have to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a feisty Far North croc tipping a shock Labor win on Saturday.

Jack the Ripper, a salty swing voter from Kuranda’s Rainforestation Nature Park, defied the polls on Thursday by tipping an ALP victory.

Labor has taken a sizable bite out of the LNP’s lead ahead of the election, sparking belief that all four seats in the region could be snapped up by either party, or possibly even an outside contender.

According to wildlife keepers, Jack the Ripper earned his nickname after killing several of his former lovers.

But polling throughout the campaign has consistently indicated the Coalition’s Opposition Leader will likely be the state’s next premier.

CaPTA group director Ben Woodward, whose company owns Rainforestation, said his clairvoyant croc, estimated to be 75-years-old and five metres long, boasted a colourful history.

Wildlife keepers prepare their "democracy drumsticks" for their clairvoyant crocodile, Jack the Ripper, a 5m saltie, originally from the Northern Territory.

“He got his nickname because he killed 12 of his previous girlfriends and clearly wasn’t up to breeding,” he said.

“He’s proven to be much better in solitary confinement at a tourism attraction such as ours so that people can learn about crocodiles and the role that they play in our ecosystem.”

Politics in Queensland can be notoriously vicious with Jack the Ripper chomping through presumed "victor" Steven Miles on Thursday morning.

As a pollster, CaPTA’s crocs had a solid history when it came to picking winners with the croc poll a time-honoured tradition in the Far North.

“We’ve got a good track record on accuracy, somewhere around 80-90 per cent which goes back about 30 years,” Mr Woodward said.

“It’s an interesting result to say the least and against what the polls are saying. I think it’s so tight that we can’t call which way it’ll go this close to the election.”

Jack the Ripper licks his lips at the thought of devouring a tender, juicy, democracy drumstick.

With crime and cost-of-living headline issues this election, Mr Woodward said he hoped the tourism sector wasn’t forgotten about.

“There has been a lot of focus on social issues and rightly so,” he said. “But we shouldn’t lose sight of other important issues, particularly those pertaining to the tourism industry.

“You look at our region and we employ one in five people up here. Our industry contributes something $4.7bn through the visitor economy.”

In the spirit of bipartisanship, both major parties were invited to attend the croc poll with

Member for Barron River Craig Crawford and Tourism Minister Michael Healy both attended the time-honoured croc poll.

Member for Barron River, Craig Crawford and Member for Cairns, Michael Healy were in attendance.

Cairns Zoom and Wildlife Dome's resident crocodile Goliath picks Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch as the winner of the May 21 federal election over Labor party candidate Elida Faith. Warren Entsch with CaPTA wildlife keeper Dan Kemp. Picture: Brendan Radke

Fellow CaPTA croc, Goliath, correctly picked Member for Leichhardt to win at the last federal election.

VOX POPS: WHAT VOTERS ARE SAYING IN BARRON RIVER

Where: Tjapukai early voting centre

When: Thursday, October 24, 11:15am

Ryland Davis, Smithfield voter at the Tjapukai early voting centre.

Ryland Davis SMITHFIELD

Cost of living and rent were the big issues for me. My rent hasn’t gone up too much but I wouldn’t like it to go up any further.The (December) flood didn’t affect me too much where I live. I didn’t do too much research before voting.

Sharon Nelsson lives near Kuranda.

Sharon Nelsson KURANDA

We’re very well protected where we live, just outside of Myola but crime is still an issue. But you hear about and there area lot of friends that I have down in Cairns. It’s definitely bad. Disaster management is a big issue. It’s every wet seasonthere’s something going wrong. We lose power all the time where we are. We have to have a generator and we’re always the lastto get our power put back on. We were without power (after TC Jasper) for about five or six days. We were cut off but I’mnot complaining about it because so many people lost their homes.

Marietta Bercali lives in Brinsmead

Marietta Bercali BRINSMEAD

My number one issue was youth crime. I think the government has to do something about it. They cannot control it. They justkeep offending. They should increase penalties so that they know it’s not acceptable. I’m in my 60s and I’m scared. It’s safein my place but in other areas there are people stealing cars. I have friends in Palm Cove that are so desperate. What dowe expect in the future if we have very bad young ones. Why should those of us who are older expect to have to look over ourshoulders?

Fred Olovich is a Trinity Beach resident.

Fred Olovich TRINITY BEACH

For me the only issue is crime. It really ticks me off the way things are heading with Labor. I’m only new to the area soI’m not really familiar with local issues that are going on.

Originally published as LNP poised to roll Labor but clairvoyant croc, Jack the Ripper, snaps at Miles as his pick to win Qld election