Labor took the final seat of Townsville to give them 48 seats in the 93 seat parliament which is a majority plus two, which will go down to one after outgoing Treasurer Curtis Pitt is named – as is likely – the next speaker of the house replacing independent Peter Wellington who retired at this election.

The final tally was Labor 48, LNP 39, KAP 3, One Nation 1, Greens 1, Independent 1.

The closeness of the election puts the cross-bench in a strong position but it is from across the political spectrum. 

For instance it is hard to see how the new Greens member for Maiwar Michael Berkmann will have much in common with One Nation’s Stephen Andrew who unseated Labor’s Jim Pearce from Mirani (some may remember Mr Pearce who was in North West twice this year in his role as the chair of the committees looking into stock routes in Boulia and FIFO in Mount Isa).

The Greens may have a lot more in common with the new independent member for Noosa Sandy Bolton who has said she won’t form a voting block with the Katter Party or One Nation.

Robbie Katter, by contrast, has warmly welcomed Mr Andrew to the parliament. “We’ve got a lot of common ground, so I’m looking forward to working with him,” Mr Katter said. “The major parties are losing touch with regional Queensland as they continue to chase inner-city votes.’’

The KAP has been a direct beneficiary of that rural distrust of the majors with Nick Dametto confirmed as its third MP winning Hinchinbrook on ALP preferences from sitting LNP member Andrew Cripps – ironically it was a decision by Labor to introduce compulsory preferences that got Mr Dametto home.

The KAP are now the third largest party in Queensland parliament and will be a serious thorn in Labor’s side.

Of course, they will not block supply but there is no doubt they will be a powerful force with Mr Katter’s only unhappiness being the LNP didn’t win Townsville to make the margin narrower still.

Let’s hope for good things for our region out of it – Derek Barry