David Crisafulli is likely to become Queensland’s next leader in a narrow win after his party’s position on abortion eroded a larger margin.
A Newspoll conducted for The Australian ahead of Saturday’s election shows that despite efforts by Premier Steven Miles to claw back ground in recent weeks, Labor is on track for defeat after almost a decade in power.
Almost half of eligible voters have already cast ballots at a pre-poll booth or via the post ahead of Saturday’s poll.
The Newspoll shows the opposition leads the Labor government 52.5 to 47.5 per cent after preferences.
The poll of 1151 Queenslanders conducted from October 18 to Thursday shows Labor’s primary vote up three points to 33 per cent while support for the LNP remains stable at 42 per cent.
Labor polling, seen by The Courier-Mail, shows Katter’s Australian Party winning two out of three seats in Townsville, casting doubt on the LNP’s bid for majority government.
Mr Crisafulli is relying on winning all three Townsville seats to secure a majority on Saturday.
Steven Miles is aiming to visit 36 electorates in 36 hours. (Adam Head/AAP PHOTOS)
Steven Miles has come to be known as ‘Australia’s most jacked premier’
Mr Miles has committed to visiting 36 seats in the 36 hours to 7pm on Friday in a last-ditch effort to win votes.
By 5pm on Thursday, he had visited 13 seats from the Sunshine Coast towards Brisbane.
His opponent hit up a dozen southeast Queensland electorates on Thursday, brushing off the premier’s suggestion it was a comparatively ‘lazy’ effort.
‘You’ve seen my energy levels,’ Mr Crisafulli said.
‘I get out of bed earlier than everyone else in the parliament; I work a little harder as well.’
With policy announcements complete, the cost of each party’s promises is the key talking point.
The LNP has promised to slash $6.8 billion from the budget across four years by cutting external consultancy costs.
Shadow Treasurer David Janetzki said it wasn’t about cutting consultant jobs, rather ‘flattening the trajectory of their growth’.
David Crisafulli is likely to become Queensland ‘s next leader in a narrow win after his party’s position on abortion eroded a larger margin.
‘Anyone on a contract, consultant or external contractor will continue with that contract to deliver the services that they are offering,’ he said.
‘But what we need to see is that over-reliance on consultants and contractors come to an end.’
The plan would improve state debt to $143 billion compared with Labor’s $146 billion in 2024/25.
But Treasurer Cameron Dick chided the proposal as a ‘fantasy’.
‘The only way he gets to his figures and his outcomes are by cutting and the only cuts that he can deliver are jobs because that’s the single biggest proportion of expenditure in the budget, is salary, wages, superannuation,’ Mr Dick said.
The government has made $9.7 billion in election commitments, with the deficit expected to grow to $3.2 billion from $2.6 billion this financial year as a result.
Mr Miles begins Friday in Brisbane while the LNP starts on the Sunshine Coast.
