But a wounded Premier Steven Miles insisted the party had not lost hope ahead of the October 26 state election,even as the LNP celebrated a historic win in Ipswich West.
Steven Miles has conceded his government would be wiped out if last night's by-election results were replicated across the state.
There,Darren Zanow claimed victory in a byelection caused by the resignation of Labor MP Jim Madden. And while Labor held on to Annastacia Palaszczuk’s former seat of Inala,it suffered a drop in primary support of almost 30 percentage points.
“Clearly voters in both of these electorates wanted to send our government a message,and my message back to them is that we are listening,” Miles said.
“Clearly,they wanted to send us a message that we need to work harder,particularly on cost of living and community safety.”
A disappointed Steven Miles insisted on Sunday his Labor government would heed the voters’ message.Dan Peled
Celebrating the LNP’s win in Ipswich West,Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said Labor had paid the price in what had traditionally been the party’s heartland.
But Crisafulli would not get ahead of himself,insisting the road to 1 William Street was a long one.
“The task ahead remains a massive one for us – we are still seeking one of the biggest swings required at a general election,” he said.
Darren Zanow,a concrete business owner who campaigned on youth crime,looks set to win Ipswich West. He is watched by state opposition leader David Crisafulli at a press conference on Sunday.Dan Peled
“That is a massive task ahead,but the message from yesterday is that it is a bad state government,they don’t trust them when it comes to those big challenges,and they want us to keep going and focus on the solution to those challenges.”
When asked if he expected a wipeout in October,Miles said while signs out of the byelections were not great,he had time to turn things around.
“Certainly,if these results were replicated,but I’ve been saying all along that winning this election is very,very hard for us,” he said.
“And certainly,if you looked at these results,and if you looked at the cockiness of the leader of the opposition,you’d think we don’t have a chance.
“Well,I believe we do have a chance,provided we listen to Queenslanders,take this message and work hard between now and October.”
While Labor’s vote was being devoured by the right flank in Ipswich West and Inala,it faced a challenge from the left in inner-Brisbane.
The Greens outperformed Labor in several Brisbane wards,leading to a warning from Michael Berkman,one of Queensland’s two state Greens MPs,that the Miles government faced an inner-city wipeout at a state level at the hands of the Greens.
The Greens were buoyant after their showing in Saturday’s Brisbane City Council election.Cameron Atfield
Berkman said the council election showed Labor was in danger of losing the seats of Cooper,McConnel and Greenslopes to the Greens.
In addition,Berkman said,the seats of Miller,Bulimba and Stafford were within the Greens’ reach.
“Labor is clearly in serious trouble in Brisbane,” he said. “They are bleeding voters on housing,particularly renters and first-home buyers,who are just moving to the Greens in droves.”
But Miles was not so convinced.
“There’s nothing particularly new there,” he said. “We’ve been seeing the Green vote increase,particularly in the inner city,and our inner-city members are really very good at representing those communities,and I expect they’ll continue to do that.
“Jonty[Bush] – you mentioned Cooper – she is a great local member in Cooper,and I expect she will be re-elected.”
Re-elected lord mayor Adrian Schrinner said it was up to others to make commentary about what the council election meant for the state campaign.
“We’re focused on local government,” he said.
“We know that people were raising state issues with us,definitely,but obviously,we’re focused on the things that we can control.”
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