There are early signs Queensland's former deputy premier Jackie Trad is in trouble in her seat of South Brisbane as polling booths have closed and counting continues in the Queensland election race.
With just under 10 per cent of the vote counted, Greens candidate Amy MacMahon has 39.5 per cent with Jackie Trad on 34.3 per cent.
ABC election analyst Antony Green said Jackie Trad cannot win from second place.
"It looks like Jackie Trad is on the way to being defeated," Green said.
"The LNP's preferences favoured her last time, but they're not favouring her this time and they will not flow to her.
"The Greens on those numbers will finish higher on first preferences than Jackie Trad which makes it nearly impossible for her to win."
After a nearly month-long campaign race, Queensland's election has hit crunch time as votes continue to be counted.
The state's election campaign has been dominated by jobs, the economy and Queensland's response to the coronavirus pandemic.
'In for a long night'
Green said around 330,000 postal votes and 925,000 pre-poll votes would be counted tonight.
"We're going to have a rush [of early figures], a plateau, and then the votes will start to go up again," he said.
"Unless there's something dramatic there in the early votes, we're not going to know an early winner."
With 6.5 per cent of the vote counted, Green said the biggest change in vote so far involved One Nation.
"One Nation's down 6 [per cent] ... that's the biggest story we're seeing at the moment," Green said.
He said there were swings happening in "opposite ways in the two parts of the state".
"If I look at the swings in south-east Queensland, we're seeing a 2.3 per cent swing towards Labor.
"If I look at the swing in the rest of Queensland — regional and rural Queensland — it's 1.4 [per cent] towards the LNP.
"That's what we're seeing tonight and it's why we're going to be in for a long night.
"On those numbers, the Labor Party could gain seats in the south-east and lose seats in the north. Until we get a lot more numbers, it's very hard to turn them into an accurate prediction."
Wild weather and hecklers
Election day was marred by wild weather in parts of the south-east with several polling booths at Logan, south of Brisbane, losing power due to dangerous thunderstorms.
Lines were quieter than usual — and some polling stations nearly empty — due to the surge of early votes cast this election due to the pandemic.
Queensland's Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen told ABC Radio Brisbane more than 2 million people had voted early or completed a postal vote.
Both party leaders cast their vote on Saturday morning, with LNP leader Deb Frecklington attending Oonoonba State School in Townsville in the marginal ALP seat of Mundingburra, flanked by her husband Jason.
Meanwhile, Annastacia Palaszczuk — who is seeking her third term as Premier — was joined by her father Henry and federal MP Milton Dick in her Brisbane electorate of Inala.
On her way out, she was heckled by a volunteer for LNP candidate Miljenka Perovic.
"Open the borders — consider the travel industry," the man yelled at the Premier.
Ms Palaszczuk responded: "there you've heard it exactly today — that's their secret plan."
When asked if she believed Ms Frecklington would open the borders if elected Premier, Dr Perovic said "absolutely".
"Deb will do everything," Dr Perovic said.
"Small businesses are the backbone of our country so they need to get back working, we need tourism moving.
"Give me a chance, vote me 1 today, and we will do that."
This election marks the first time in the state's history that a four-year fixed parliamentary term will apply.
Both party leaders have made repeated pleas for a majority government.
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2020-10-31 08:22:00Z
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