Pauline in poll position
PAULINE Hanson will jet into the Queensland campaign tomorrow night poised to pick the state’s next premier as disenchanted voters spurn major parties.
Support for One Nation has surged, according to the extraordinary results of the election’s first Galaxy Poll, despite the firebrand senator spending the week marooned in India on a parliamentary travel trip.
The Tim Nicholls- led Liberal National Party has recorded a sharp fall, while Labor’s vote has flatlined with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk unable to command the vote she received at the 2015 election.
One in three Queenslanders would back minor parties or independents, the poll results revealed, greater than the total vote being mustered by the LNP and closing in on Labor’s support.
The results indicate neither of the major parties will be able to secure a majority and Queensland is careering towards another hung parliament with One Nation likely to snare a swag of seats.
According to Galaxy, the LNP primary vote has plummeted 4 per cent in three months to a lowly 32 per cent, the worst result for the party in more than five years.
Labor remained on 35 per cent, below the 37.5 per cent the party achieved at the last election that allowed Ms Palaszczuk to negotiate a minority government with independent Peter Wellington.
One Nation’s vote jumped from 15 per cent to 18 per cent, putting the party in the frame to repeat its feat at the 1998 state election when it won 11 seats.
“However, with three weeks of campaigning to go, the result cannot be considered a foregone conclusion,” Galaxy pollster David Brigg said. “In 1998 One Nation secured 22.7 per cent of the primary vote and won 11 seats.
“Although support for the party is currently below the level achieved in 1998, they are likely to field less candidates and hence they would be expected to be competitive in a number of seats in which they stand.”
These include electorates in North Queensland, such as Thuringowa, Burdekin and Whitsunday; central Queensland electorates such as Keppel, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay and Maryborough; as well as Logan and Lockyer, in the southeast corner.
The poll shows the Greens have jumped to 9 per cent, in an indication of support over the Adani coal mine.
On a two- party preferred basis, the Galaxy Poll put Labor in the lead 52 per cent to 48 per cent, with almost two in three One Nation voters preferencing the LNP over Labor.
The results will embolden Labor’s attack on the LNP over whether Mr Nicholls is prepared to do preference deals or form minority government with the support of One Nation.