ALP SURGE

Poll: Brisbane voters give Palaszczuk last-gasp lift

INNER-city voters have given Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk a crucial lift in key Brisbane seats that may set her up for victory in tomorrow’s State election. An exclusive Galaxy poll shows the Premier is poised to pick up enough southeast corner seats to replace losses in the regions where voters have turned against both major parties.

ANNASTACIA Palaszczuk is on the cusp of leading Labor to a historic election victory tomorrow, despite a deep chasm in voter sentiment that has divided Queensland.

A Galaxy poll has revealed the Premier is poised to pick up enough southeast corner seats to replace losses in the regions where voters have turned against both major parties.

Labor could snare the 47 electorates necessary to form a majority in the 93-seat State Parliament, with a win furthering Ms Palaszczuk’s record as the most successful female major party leader in Australian political history.

The result hinges heavily on unpredictable preference flows from One Nation supporters after Labor ditched Queensland’s “Just Vote 1” laws.

The poll of more than 1500 Queenslanders conducted this week found Labor leads the LNP 52 per cent to 48 per cent on a two-party preferred basis, the same result that was recorded in the days after Ms Palaszczuk pulled the trigger on the early election.

One Nation’s vote has sunk from 18 per cent to 12 per cent after Pauline Hanson’s gaffeprone campaign, where the party only managed to field candidates in 61 electorates.

This has allowed Labor’s vote to inch forward over the past four weeks from 35 per cent to 37 per cent, almost mirroring the support Ms Palaszczuk received at her 2015 win over Campbell Newman.

The LNP has also benefited, increasing from 32 per cent to 35 per cent, although this figure is well below the 41.3 per cent achieved three years ago.

However, the more telling results are revealed in the divergence in voting patterns between the southeast corner, where there are 62 electorates, compared with the rest of the state, which has 31 seats.

Ms Hanson’s party has carved out 20 per cent of primary support in regional Queensland. This has put One Nation in a prime position to return MPs to the floor of Parliament for the first time since 2009, while their voters’ preference decisions will have a decisive impact. One Nation has preferenced against almost every sitting MP; however, the party does not have the army of volunteers to staff polling booths and its voters often ignore how-to-vote cards.

Labor’s regional vote has dropped 3.9 per cent to 30 per cent since 2015, while the LNP has deteriorated from 40.2 per cent to 33 per cent.