The new Queensland parliament is starting to take shape with Labor likely at best to govern with only have at a bare majority.
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It’s an outcome welcomed by newly elected member for Traeger Robbie Katter who said the myth of a stable majority was a great oxymoron of modern politics.
“Stable majority saw Anna Bligh thrown out on her backside, it saw Campbell Newman thrown out on his backside and if Labor was let to run their own radical agenda in the last Parliament, I think they would have been thrown out on their backside,” Mr Katter said.
“I think we've inadvertently helped keep them in government in that they weren't allowed to roll out their stable majority agenda. I'm not sure I'm happy about having done that but that's the way it's panned out. And it's pretty naive I think to now say Queenslanders want a stable majority, I think that's both ignorant and misleading."
It's pretty naive I think to now say Queenslanders want a stable majority
- Robbie Katter
Nine seats remain in the balance at the time of writing though the chances of independent Margaret Strelow in Rockhampton diminished in postal vote counting.
Catch up on all our state election news here.
Labor was confident of winning Rockhampton, Aspley and Gaven, which would give it the 47 seats it needs to get a majority in the 93-seat parliament while Townsville and Maiwar will be close to the end.
If Labor wins either Townsville or Maiwar, it would get to 48, giving the party a little more wriggle room, especially with the need to appoint a speaker from its ranks.
The KAP remains hopeful of picking up Hinchinbrook to with its seats of Traeger (Robbie Katter) and Hill (Shane Knuth).
With 81.6 percent of the vote counted LNP Hinchinbrook MP Andrew Cripps is holding 30.58 per cent of the vote but both One Nation candidate Margaret Bell (21.82%) and KAP’s Nick Dametto (21.02%) are still real contenders and it will likely come down to how the preferences of the fourth place ALP candidate flow.
One Nation now looks likely to pick up one seat at Mirani, previously held by Labor.
An independent candidate Sandy Bolton looks like winning the seat of Noosa.