Top job won by a whisker
Poll shows Fentiman an exceptionally close second - and Dick third
Steven Miles was the top pick among Queenslanders to replace Annastacia Palaszczuk but only by a very small margin in an eerie reflection of the sentiment in Labor’s caucus before a backroom deal was brokered.
Asked to pick between Mr Miles, Health Minister Shannon Fentiman and Treasurer Cameron Dick, Queenslanders were nearly deadlocked between the eventual Premier and his ambitious Left-faction colleague Ms Fentiman.
A total of 37.8 per cent of respondents to The Bulletin’s new UComms poll of 1911 Queenslanders believed Mr Miles was the best replacement for Ms Palaszczuk.
Ms Fentiman was an exceptionally close second, with 35 per cent believing she was the better choice. The poll has a margin of error of 2.3 per cent.
Mr Dick, who was promoted to Deputy Premier alongside his Treasury portfolio, was the preferred pick among 27.1 per cent of those polled.
A leadership tussle immediately broke out within Labor’s ranks after Ms Palaszczuk’s shock resignation on December 10, with the long-time Queensland leader anointing Mr Miles as her preferred successor. But in a move which split the powerful Left faction, Ms Fentiman, a long-time friend of Mr Miles, announced her intention to vie for the leadership.
It was a short-lived, two-way battle, with a late-night deal brokered between the Australian Workers’ Union and the United Workers’ Union resulting in the bloc of Labor Right MPs opting to support Mr Miles.
Supporters of Ms Fentiman said that before the deal was brokered there were two votes between her and the top job, although supporters of Mr Miles maintained it was never that close.
There was speculation among Labor sources that Ms Fentiman would be stronger for the party in the regions, but the UComms poll revealed Mr Miles retained his support as preferred replacement in the regions.
Mr Miles was also surprisingly more popular as the preferred Palaszczuk replacement among women (41.6 per cent) compared to Ms Fentiman (34.7 per cent) and Mr Dick (31.3 per cent).
Ms Fentiman and Mr Miles were effectively equally popular among men, receiving 34.7 per cent and 34.1 per cent respectively.
Nearly two-thirds of Labor voters believed Mr Miles, who has a PhD in union renewal, was the best option to replace Ms Palaszczuk.
But Ms Fentiman dominated as the preferred pick among Green voters, with 53.8 per cent picking her above both men.
Mr Dick was the least popular among Green and Labor voters but was the leading option among Queenslanders who support the LNP, One Nation and Katter’s Australian Party.