2020 Queensland state election
The 2020 Queensland state election is scheduled to be held on Saturday 31 October 2020 to elect the 57th Parliament of Queensland. All 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly of the unicameral parliament will be up for election.
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All 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 47 Assembly seats are needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
At the 2017 election, Labor won majority government with 48 of 93 seats. The Liberal Nationals won 39 seats. On the crossbench, Katter's Australian Party won three seats, One Nation won one seat, the Greens won one seat and Independent Sandy Bolton won the seat of Noosa.
Labor has won all but one state election since 1989, and has only been out of government for five years since then. It lost its majority in 1996, giving way to a Coalition minority government that was defeated in 1998. In 2012, it suffered the worst defeat of a sitting government in the state's history, but regained power in 2015.
Electoral system
In Queensland The candidate who stands for election and wins the majority of votes in an electoral district becomes a Member of Parliament—MP for short. This is commonly referred to as winning a seat in Parliament.
Of the political parties contesting the election, the party, or coalition, that win the majority of seats (at least 45) forms the government.
The party, or coalition that gain the next highest number of seats forms the opposition, with the remaining parties and independents candidates being allocated to the cross bench.
Queensland Parliament is the only state parliament in Australia without an Upper House. This makes it a 'unicameral' parliament, meaning that it has just one House—the Legislative Assembly.
Queensland has compulsory voting and uses full-preference instant-runoff voting for single-member electorates. The election will be conducted by the Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ).
Date
The election will be for all 93 members of the Legislative Assembly. Pursuant to Constitution (Fixed Term Parliament) Amendment Act 2015 Queensland has fixed terms, with all elections following this election held every 4 years on the last Saturday of October. The Governor may call an election earlier than scheduled if the Government does not maintain confidence, or the annual appropriation bill fails to pass.
Under the legislation, the caretaker period will commence on 5 October 2020, 26 days prior to the election date.[1]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, consideration is being given to holding this election as a full postal ballot.[2]
Registered parties
Since the previous election, 2017, five political parties have been registered by Queensland's Electoral Commission: the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, North Queensland First (the party of former Liberal National MP Jason Costigan), the Animal Justice Party, Clive Palmer's United Australia Party, and the Informed Medical Options Party.
In June the Legalise Cannabis Queensland Party (LCQ) submitted an application for registration to the Queensland Electoral Commission[3].
Parties currently registered in Queensland are:
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Retiring MPs
Liberal National
- Mark McArdle MP (Caloundra) – announced retirement 27 June 2019[4]
- Ted Sorensen MP (Hervey Bay) – announced retirement 25 May 2020[5]
- Simone Wilson MP (Pumicestone) – announced retirement 27 September 2019[6]
Polling
Several research, media and polling firms conduct opinion polls during the parliamentary term and prior to the state election in relation to voting. Most firms use the flow of preferences at the previous election to determine the two-party-preferred vote; others ask respondents to nominate preferences.
Graphical summary
Poll results
Date | Firm | Primary vote | TPP vote | ||||||
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ALP | LNP | Green | ON | Other | ALP | LNP | |||
30 July 2020 | Newspoll[7] | 34% | 38% | 12% | 11% | 5% | 49% | 51% | |
7 June 2020 | YouGov[8] | 32% | 38% | 12% | 12% | 6% | 48% | 52% | |
7 February 2020 | YouGov[9] | 34% | 35% | 10% | 15% | 6% | 50% | 50% | |
30 August 2019 | YouGov[10] | 32% | 37% | 13% | 13% | 5% | 49% | 51% | |
13–14 February 2019 | YouGov[11] | 35% | 35% | 11% | 8% | 11% | 52% | 48% | |
7–8 November 2018 | YouGov[12] | 36% | 34% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 53% | 47% | |
8–9 August 2018 | YouGov[13] | 35% | 37% | 11% | 10% | 7% | 51% | 49% | |
9–10 May 2018 | YouGov[14] | 38% | 35% | 10% | 12% | 5% | 53% | 47% | |
7–8 Feb 2018 | YouGov[15] | 37% | 36% | 10% | 10% | 7% | 52% | 48% | |
12 December 2017 Deb Frecklington becomes leader of the Liberal National Party and Leader of the Opposition | |||||||||
25 Nov 2017 election | 35.4% | 33.7% | 10.0% | 13.7% | 7.2% | 51.2% | 48.8% | ||
21–24 Nov 2017 | Newspoll[16] | 36% | 34% | 10% | 13% | 7% | 52.5% | 47.5% | |
24 Nov 2017 | Galaxy[17] | 37% | 35% | 9% | 12% | 7% | 52% | 48% | |
20 Nov 2017 | ReachTEL[18] | 34% | 30% | 10% | 17% | 9% | 51% | 49% | |
Date | Firm | Better premier | Palaszczuk | Frecklington | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Palaszczuk | Frecklington | Satisfied | Dissatisfied | Satisfied | Dissatisfied | |||
30 July 2020 | Newspoll[7] | 57% | 26% | 64% | 29% | 34% | 42% | |
12 June 2020 | Liberal National Party[19] | 42% | 19% | - | - | - | - | |
7 June 2020 | YouGov[9] | 44% | 23% | 49% | 33% | 26% | 29% | |
7 February 2020 | YouGov[9] | 34% | 22% | 29% | 44% | 23% | 33% | |
30 August 2019 | YouGov[20] | 34% | 29% | 34% | 45% | 30% | 30% | |
13–14 February 2019 | YouGov[11] | 47% | 27% | 48% | 38% | 31% | 35% | |
7–8 November 2018 | YouGov[12] | 43% | 26% | 46% | 37% | 35% | 29% | |
8–9 August 2018 | YouGov[13] | 41% | 38% | 31% | 26% | |||
9–10 May 2018 | YouGov[14] | 47% | 27% | 46% | 38% | 31% | 28% | |
7–8 Feb 2018 | YouGov[15] | 42% | 31% | |||||
12 December 2017 Deb Frecklington becomes leader of the Liberal National Party and Leader of the Opposition |
References
- "Constitution (Fixed TermParliament) Amendment Act 2015". Queensland Government. 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- Election could be a full postal vote Seniors News 10 April 2020
- Cornell, Karie (23 July 2020). "Queenslanders Propagate New Cannabis Political Party". Pondering Pot. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
- Lynch, Lydia (28 June 2019). "Sunshine Coast MP to stand down at next election for younger blood". Brisbane Times.
- Lynch, Lydia (25 May 2020). "LNP's Ted Sorensen to retire after 26 years in local and state politics". Brisbane Times.
- "Member for Pumicestone Simone Wilson not to recontest in the next state election to be held October 2020".
- "Newspoll - The Australian". The Australian.
- "YouGov: Labor's vote shrivels, as LNP surges". Courier Mail.
- "YouGov Galaxy: 50-50 in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
- "YouGov Galaxy: 51-49 to state LNP in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 30 August 2019. Archived from the original on 21 December 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
- "YouGov Galaxy: Labor 35, LNP 35, Greens 11, One Nation 8 in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- "YouGov Galaxy: 53-47 to Labor in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 10 November 2018. Archived from the original on 10 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- "YouGov Galaxy: 51-49 to state Labor in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 12 August 2018. Archived from the original on 12 August 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- "YouGov Galaxy: 53-47 to state Labor in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 13 May 2018. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
- "YouGov Galaxy: 52-48 to state Labor in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 12 February 2018. Archived from the original on 13 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
- "Queensland election: swing to ALP but Hanson strings attached". The Australian. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
- "Queensland Election 2017 galaxy poll predicts win for Labor and Premier Annastacia Palaszcuk". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
- "Labor leads LNP by 2 points in Qld: Poll". Sky News. Archived from the original on 23 November 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
- Wardill, Steven (2020). "Deb Frecklington trails Annastacia Palaszczuk in popularity contest: LNP polling". Courier Mail.
- "YouGov Galaxy: 51–49 to State LNP in Queensland". Poll Bludger. 30 August 2019. Archived from the original on 24 December 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2019.