Australia’s Live QLD Election Counting Underway heres what is known

Ace Breaking News – Live updates: Counting underway in Queensland election as the margin tightens between Labor and the LNP

Queensland’s polls have closed as the LNP looks to end Labor’s nine years in government.  

Premier Steven Miles is aiming to win a fourth term for Labor, while Opposition Leader David Crisafulli is hoping to lead the LNP to victory for the first time since 2015.  

Follow live.

Antony Green says it’s ‘looking like a hung parliament’

ABC election analyst Antony Green said it looks like the LNP will pick up six regional seats off Labor, but that won’t be enough  to form a majority government.

“The LNP has three Townsville seats, a couple in Mackay, and at the moment they are ahead in Cook,” he said.

“There’s going to be negotiation in the next parliament.”

It’s still early, but the concept of a hung parliament is … hanging around.

Labor has lost its majority in the Queensland parliament

The ABC’s Chief Election Analyst Antony Green says Labor has lost its majority in the Queensland parliament, but it is too early to know who has won the state election.

With 23% of the vote counted, Labor has lost seats in the regional cities of Mackay and Townsville, but it is holding its ground in Brisbane so far.

It is unclear which major party will finish with more seats.

9m ago

LNP’s Laura Gerber set to retain Currumbin

  The ABC’s Antony Green says Laura Gerber will be returned in Currumbin.

“I’m so grateful that I have been returned because I love my job,” she told the ABC.

Laura Gerber.(ABC News)normal

She is the LNP shadow youth justice minister and was asked to explain how the LNP’s Adult Crime, Adult Time policy would reduce youth offending.

“Adult time for adult crime will restore safety where we live by allowing our judges and magistrates to impose a sentence that fits the crime,” she says.

“Remember that we are talking about five key offences, murder, manslaughter, serious harm like stabbing people, breaking into businesses and robbing, and breaking into homes and stealing.”

When asked about criticsm to the proposal she says not everyone is going to agree with everything and the policy would not be in “isolation” with the LNP making many promises targeting youth crime.

‘It’s hard to see the two major parties getting to 47’

Redbridge pollster Kos Samaras believes Queensland could be headed for a hung parliament.Loading…

Kos: It’s hard to see the two major parties getting to 47… the LNP is really struggling in Brisbane, Labor is losing a lot of skin in some of the seats in Brisbane, but they’re not going directly to the LNP.

The LNP is not making the sorts of gains in regional Queensland that we would expect. The seat of Gaven is a real red flag for the LNP, because that’s a seat they should have easily secured and it’s definitely not the case.

15m ago

Is this the most relaxed Queensland politician

Reporting by Mackenzie Colahan in Broadbeach

A few seats have been called so far, but you would be hard pressed to find a more relaxed politician in Queensland tonight than John-Paul Langbroek.John-Paul Langbroek with his team.(ABC News: Mackenzie Colahan)normal

The member for Surfers Paradise and former LNP leader is running for a sixth term and holds the blue ribbon conservative seat on a 16.2 per cent margin.

Early results show he’s on track to increase his margin and cruise to a comfortable victory over Labor candidate, university student and cafe worker James Knight.

An upbeat Mr Langbroek said it had been “nine years, eight months and 26 days” since the 2015 election that knocked the LNP from power, which happened to be on his birthday.

26m ago

A red party and a blue party

Or at least a couple of gathos at this stage.

You couldn’t accuse whoever is doing the lights at these parties of not getting the colour memo.LNP HQ(ABC News: Stephanie Felisina)normalLabor HQ.(ABC News: Joshua McIntosh)normal

27m ago

We’re in for a long night, says ABC election analyst Antony Green

31m ago

Grace Grace says Greens have been ‘relentless’ in bid to win McConnell

Grace Grace.(ABC News)normal

“They have been relentless, targeting the seat like they did in 2020,” she says.

“Hopefully I can hold on and hold off that attack. I don’t take anything for granted.”

When asked whether she would support Steven Miles staying on if Labor loses tonight she says that is entirely up to him. 

Former deputy prime minister suggests predicted landslide is ‘not on the cards’

Wayne Swan is at Labor HQ speaking with the ABC’s Arianna Levy.

He says he’s fairly happy with the early results, but stresses that prepoll votes have not been counted “so you cannot be definitive”.

“From the results I’ve seen so far, what it shows is the landslide that was predicted in the opinion polls not that long ago is not on the cards,” Mr Swan says.

“But until we get the pre-polls in it’s a fools errand to be predicting too much.

“It’s not looking too bad [for Labor].”

Robbie Katter claims a win

Robbie Katter has declared victory in the seat of Traeger.

Speaking to the ABC, Mr Katter said he was proud but eagerly watching the other results.

“It’s been a privilege to represent the region I’ve called home for the last 20 years,” he said.

“It’s evident from what we have achieved over that time that having a local north Queensland member matters.

“Now I’ll be watching as the votes are counted in all the other seats we’ve run dedicated candidates in.”

Robbie Katter is all smiles. (ABC News: Emily Dobson)normal

Key seats to watch across Queensland

Reporting by Leonie Mellor

Key seats to watch outside the south-east include Bundaberg, the most marginal in the state with the ALP holding it by just 0.02 per cent. 

If the swing goes as the polls predict, Nicklin, Hervey Bay and Caloundra would also turn blue.

Rockhampton in Central Queensland will also be a tight race.

It has never been held by the LNP but with sitting Labor MP Barry O’Rourke retiring and well known independent Margaret Strelowdirecting preferences to the LNP, Donna Kirkland could be in with a chance.

Shadow TreasurerDavid Janetski says it  would be “a remarkable win against the tide of history” should the LNP pick it up.

Keppel is also being keenly watched where One Nation candidate James Ashby is up against the ALP’s Brittany Lauga.Pauline Hanson and James Ashby.(ABC News: Scout Wallen)normal

Early returns are looking good for the LNP there, with a 13 per cent swing recorded with about 15 per cent of the vote counted.

In the far north, the KAP are hopeful of picking up the seat of Cook. It’s currently held by Labor MP Cynthia Lui on a margin of 6.3 per cent.

In the south-east corner of the state, the Gold Coast seat of Gaven will be key, where popular ALP Minister Meaghan Scanlon, is up against former television journalist Bianca Stone.

It’s the only seat on the Gold Coast held by Labor, and Ms Scanlon is regarded as a future leader of the party.

Things are looking good for Ms Scanlan though, picking up 55.4 per cent of the vote so far.

Other key seats political watchers will be scrutinising are Mansfield held by Labor by 6.8 per cent, Aspley on the outer northern parts of Brisbane which Labor has by 5.2 per cent and former Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath’s seat of Redcliffe which Labor holds by 6.1 per cent.

The seat of Barron River on the north of Cairns could also give an indication of the outcome. It’s a bell-weather seat and is currently held by the ALP’s Craig Crawford.

Early projections are starting to come in

Mark Furner.(ABC News: Johanna Marie)normal

Labor’s Mark Furner is projected to retain the seat of Ferny Grove.

LNP’s James Lister is looking set to retain Southern Downs and the LNP’s Trevor Watts is ahead in Toowoomba North.

Here’s how the projections are looking for other seats as of 7:15pm:

• Labor’s Tom Smith is ahead in Bundaberg 
•  Jim McDonald is looking like he will retain Lockyer
•  Labor’s Mick De Brenni has ahead in the seat of Springwood
• Robbie Katter is ahead in Taeger 
• The Greens Michael Berkman is projected to retain Maiwar
• Independent Sandy Bolton is looking to hold on to  Noosa 
• LNP incumbent Jon Krause is ahead in the Scenic Rim
• LNP’s Sam O’Connor is ahead in Bonney 
• LNP’s Hermann Vorster is looking to hold onto Burleigh
• Callide is looking strong for Bryson Head
• LNP’s Pat Weir is in front in Condamine
• Tim Nicholls is ahead in Clayfield 
• Michael Crandon is ahead in Coomera
• Tim Mander is looking like he will retain Everton

Tom Smith is projected to win Bundaberg, 

These projections are based on preference estimate. 

Follow the link below for the latest results.

57m ago

The red team is hoping to hold on to Keppel

Labor MP Brittany Lauga’s supporters in Keppel are playing some stick at the Capricornia Tavern in Yeppoon as the results roll in.

Ms Lauga first won the seat in 2015, and won at the last election on a slim margin.

1h ago

Opposition youth justice spokesperson confident in Currumbin

Reporting by Mark Rigby and Jessica Lamb

The LNP’s member for Currumbin Laura Gerber has arrived at her election evening event in Palm Beach.

Ms Gerber has been a regular on the campaign trail with Opposition Leader David Crisafulli and holds the seat with one of the slimmest margins at just 0.5 per cent.Laura Gerber welcomes a young supporter(ABC News: Mark Rigby)normal

She says she’s feeling confident the LNP will hold on to the Gold Coast’s most southern seat.

“It’s been a long day but it’s been exciting — the mood was really positive out there today,” she says.

Hermann Vorster catching up with Laura Gerber(ABC News: Jessica Lamb)normal

Ms Gerber is joined by former Gold Coast City Councillor and LNP candidate for Burleigh Hermann Vorster at their joint election party at the Palm Beach Currumbin Sports Club.

Mr Vorster is vying to take over from the retiring LNP incumbent Michael Hart.

Robbie Katter clarifies his abortion comments

Robbie Katter spoke to the ABC panel from his seat of Traeger, where very early results show him running away with the vote.

He was asked about abortion coming into the campaign after he said he would amend abortion laws “quick as you like” on the campaign trail.

“For about the 100th time, I said I’d already committed, which was really nothing to do with the comments I made recently that I would put the Babies Born Alive Bill back in because it was already sitting in parliament and never got voted on,” he said.

“Beyond that I plan to test something in parliament. There are so many combinations and permutations of what could be done — whether it is repeals, amendments or new bills — it wasn’t a priority for me to pin down.”

However, he did say he would “test the parliament” on the issue.

“I don’t know what that will look like yet.”

Speaking on the ABC broadcast David Janetzki says the abortion debate has been a distraction and a “scare campaign”.Loading…

1h ago

The seat with the ‘bearest’ of margins for Labor

Reporting by Heidi Sheehan(ABC News: Heidi Sheehan)normal

There’s a bear in there?

LNP Barron River candidate Bree James is yet to arrive at her election night party, but her mascot Barron Bear has just rolled in.

It’s the seat with the ‘bearest’ of margins for Labor in the Far North (3.1 per cent) and one the LNP hopes to pick up tonight.

It’s been held by Labor’s Craig Crawford since 2015.

1h ago

Where can I see the results?

We’ll be live streaming the ABC’s election broadcast, and running a tally of seats that have been called at the top of he ABC News home page.

That tally on the ABC website will stick around on the for the next couple of days — you can follow along by clicking the link below.

Electoral Commission aiming to count two million votes tonight

Queensland Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen says staff will aim to count votes up until 11pm.

They will resume early in the morning, but he says there should be plenty of information coming from the booths throughout the evening.

“We think tonight we’ll have two million votes counted and that should tell some story, what that story is we don’t know,” Mr Vidgen says.

“Certainly there will be a lot of information available from tonight.”

1h ago

‘Going backwards’: Palaszczuk on QSAC as an Olympic stadium

Annastacia Palaszczuk is on the election panel for Sky News tonight.

“We can’t go backwards, QSAC is going backwards,” she says. 

“This needs to be visionary, it needs to be bold… the Olympic committee doesn’t want the host city to be spending billions and billions of dollars on large stadiums.”

Palaszczuk has been asked whether her successor, Steven Miles, has been gutless over the issue.

“He’s entitled to his view… I will stand by my view… that the Gabba had the transport solution,” she says.

1h ago

‘Just a tick’ under a million votes cast today, says electoral commissioners

Queensland Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen says that’s on top of the 1.6 million early votes cast in the past two weeks.

He tells ABC Brisbane’s Steve Austin those votes were cast at 1,100 booths across the state which were staffed by 15,000 Queenslanders.

Posted 12h ago, updated 8m ago

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