Polls close in Queensland election as counting gets underway

The polls have closed in the Queensland election, as counting begins to see who will lead the state for the next four years.

There were 3.7 million Queenslanders who voted before the polls closed at 6pm on Saturday.

Now the counting begins to see whether LNP or Labor will be victorious but it might be tighter then first expected.

2000 voters were asked about their vote after they they cast their ballots at a cross-section of electorates on Saturday.

The Courier Mail exit poll revealed 33.9 per cent of voters had backed the LNP at the polls, while Labor secured 33.6 per cent of the vote - only 0.3 points behind their opponents.

It might come as a surprise to many after Labor was on 33 per cent of the vote, compared with 42 per cent to the LNP in the last Newspoll before the election, released on Friday.

QLD State Election 2024 - Called Seats Expander - interactive

REASON CANDIDATE DECIDED TO RUN

Former Channel 7 star Bianca Stone has revealed the moment she knew she needed to run for parliament.

Ms Stone, who is running of for the seat of Gaven on the LNP ticket, told Sky News the government’s inaction on youth crime was the driving factor in her decision to run for politics.

“I became really frustrated with the government because of the inaction on things like youth crime,” Ms Stone said.

“I was reporting on youth crime long before it became a catchphrase.

“I was standing on the side of the road back in 2021 on the 27th of January. I can remember the time really clearly.

“It was the day after a young couple, Matt Field, Kate Ledbetter, and their unborn baby, Miles, was killed in a horrific crash.

“A 17-year-old driver behind the wheel of the car. He was drunk. He was high on drugs.

“He ran a red light. He slammed into a couple simply walking their dogs on Australia Day.

“Tat 17-year-old had a rap sheet a mile long.

“Now, I found out about that the next day as a reporter for Sunrise... and it broke my heart.

“It broke my heart for the families, but also made me angry, because I’ve reported on youth crime so extensively and the government hadn’t done enough about it to prevent yet another tragedy.

“Of course, we’ve heard about more tragedies since that time.

“At that point, I knew I had to put up my hand. I knew it was time to run.”

Ms Stone is up against housing minister Meaghan Scanlon for the hotly contested eat.

Shortly before 7pm, Ms Scanlon had 39.76 per cent votes, while Ms Stone had 38.85 per cent with nearly five per cent of the total vote counted.

Ms Scanlon held Gaven with a 7.8 per cent margin before the election

KATTER’S ANGER

Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter has slammed “silly” corflutes he says mislead voters that he’s working with Labor if they’re reelected.

Mr Katter called out the LNP over allegations made he’d done a deal with Labor before the election.

Mr Katter told voters this was “rubbish”.

“I’d be pretty disappointed with anyone who thought we’d done a deal with Labor,” he said in a video posted on social media on Saturday.

“Doing a deal with anyone wouldn’t make any sense before the election.

“It just tells you that they’re praying upon your ignorance.

“It’s really insulting to us, it’s really insulting to the voters that you put rubbish around that we did a deal with Labor at this time.”

Mr Katter said the “silly signs” he’d seen claiming he’d done a deal with the government was “gutter” politics.

“When you’ve got nothing else, you can’t compete on policy so you start getting down in the gutter,” he said.

“That’s the Brisbane sort of politics they want to play, we’re not into that.

“We just want to tell you what we want to do when we’re in government.

“We’ll work with whoever is in government.”

It comes as KAP got its lawyers involved to urge the Electoral Commission of Queensland to remove the sign from the voting centre at Mount Isa Central State School before voting closes at 6pm, according to the Townsville Bulletin.

QLD State Election 2024 - Summary - interactive

‘WHERE WERE YOU?’

Earlier, former Channel 7 star Bianca Stone who is running for office has been grilled at the polling booths as voting for the Queensland election is underway.

Ms Stone, who resigned from Channel 7 in 2023, is LNP leader David Crisafulli’s candidate for the seat of Gaven.

Ms Stone was grilled by Highland Park resident Vicki Campbell on Saturday morning, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin, who asked Ms Stone where she had been throughout the election campaign.

Replying she’d been out and about, Ms Campbell hit back.

“Not at our place,” she replied before setting her sights on Mr Crisafulli.

“How are you going to handle the health system??” Ms Campbell asked the LNP leader.

“By making sure it’s properly resourced,” Mr Crisafulli said.

Ms Campbell later told the Bulletin she hadn’t seen Ms Stone out, “either door knocking or at Nerang”.

“I’ve only seen her on a poster. Meaghan (Scanlon) is committed and consistent. She’s out there with the general public,” Ms Campbell said.

“I’m a Liberal voter by the way. I’m not a Labor voter.”

The latest polling has predicted the LNP will claim victory for the first time in nearly a decade, however it could be closer than expected.

Polls opened at 8am on Saturday, with Queenslanders able to vote until 6pm.

A fine of $161.30 will apply to those who don’t vote in the election.

QLD State Election 2024 - Map - interactive

LEADERS CAST THEIR VOTE

Both Mr Crisafulli and Queensland Premier Steven Miles were captured with their wives casting their votes on Saturday morning, with Mr Crisafulli voting in Springwood while Mr Miles voted in Kallangur.

A TIGHTER RACE THAN EXPECTED

The latest Newspoll revealed on Friday showed the Liberal National Party opposition was leading Premier Steven Miles’s Labor government 52.5 to 47.5 per cent after preferences.

If the polls are correct, that would mean the LNP will secure at least the 13 seats they need to claim victory in the 93-seat parliament.

Heading into the election, Labor held 51 seats, with LNP on 35 seats.

Griffith University politics lecturer Paul Williams said while the tightening of the gap between the two parties in the last week of the election was “astonishing”, it’s clear that “Steven Miles will not be premier”.

Dr Williams said the 5.7 per cent swing away from Labor – if it is uniform – means the LNP would likely win 13 seats, one more than they require to govern.

“While it’s possible there might be a hung parliament, I think it’s quite unlikely,” he said.

“I think their worst case scenario with be 47-48 but they may get low 50s.

“What we do know now is that the 60 plus (seats) that they were guaranteed a month ago at the beginning of the campaign is not going to happen.”

Dr Williams said there would be big swings in several regions, including the three seats in north Queensland – Townsville, Thuringowa and Mundingburra, a seat once held by Mr Crisafulli.

Labor currently holds those three seats on margin respectively of 3.1 per cent, 3.25 per cent and 3.93 per cent.

Dr Williams said polling suggested the Katter’s Australian Party would win Townsville.

He said those right-leaning voters in north Queensland might not be happy with a “moderate who lives on the Gold Coast” as head of the LNP.

“North Queensland LNP voters are different from southern Queensland LNP voters,” Dr Williams said.

“I don’t think your Townsville and Cairns voters would see Crisafulli as one of them but they’re happy to have him if it means getting rid of Labor.

“Those very conservative voters who may peel off LNP and go for someone who is very right wing, someone like the Katter’s and One Nation.”

KAP currently holds four seats on the crossbench, joining the Greens with two plus the only independent seat in Queensland, held by Noosa MP Sandy Bolton.

Meanwhile, Mr Miles’ personal support has slightly improved by jumping ahead as preferred premier, ­leading Mr Crisafulli 45-42 per cent, according to Friday’s Newspoll.

The Premier trailed is opponent 39-46 per cent in the previous Newspoll in September.

Dr Williams said Mr Miles jump in ratings was “astonishing”.

“Labor’s campaign has been near flawless, there’s been a couple of minor gaps but it’s been near textbook,” he said.

“He (Mr Miles) has presented so well.

“He has presented as the humble, daggy dad and the fact that he’s fit and muscular and he’s self-effacing and softly spoken and omnipresent.

“Since he’s been premier for the also 10 months he’s been everywhere all the time means he’s built up his own profile.

“By the same token Crisafulli started off on what was a high base.

“For a long time he had more people approving than disapproving his leadership, but he’s also had a high number of voters of no opinion of him – up to a third.

“What’s clear is a lot of the undecided have plumped in recent weeks on the Miles side when they’ve gotten to know both leaders.

“Crisafulli’s obfuscation in terms of policy, the small target stuff has backfired for the LNP and the abortion stuff has been huge.

“The fact that the tried to obfuscate, made him look like a weak leader and Queenslanders don’t like weak leaders.”

Labor has won 11 of the last 12 Queensland elections.

Voting opens at 8am local time across the state before closing at 6pm, when counting starts.