Queensland Premier Steven Miles is looking down the barrel of a crushing electoral defeat later this year despite a social media blitz, including showing off his fatherly devotion by making his kids’ lunches.
The latest Newspoll, published in News Ltd papers on Friday, showed the Liberal National Party had opened up a substantial gap on Mr Miles’ government, threatening to end Labor’s nine years in power at the upcoming state election in October.
Newspoll had the LNP leading the two-party preferred vote 54 per cent to 46 per cent – a 10-point decline in Labor’s standing since they won the last state election in 2020 under then premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Labor Premier Stephen Miles has been showing off his school lunch-making skills but it has failed to impress voters, according to the latest Newspoll
The poll dampens hopes that the handing over of leadership by Ms Palaszczuk – who announced her retirement from politics in December – to Mr Miles would reverse Labor’s polling decline.
Since becoming premier Mr Miles has tried to revive the government’s flagging fortunes with a range of policy announcements and a continual stream of social media posts starring himself.
He has made a habit of delivering political monologues while making his children’s lunches in social media posts along with sharing plenty of photos and videos of him out and about in Queensland.
While Mr Miles habitually displays a big grin to camera – his nickname coming up through Labor ranks is ‘Giggles’ – his most recent approval ratings are not much to smile about.
Newspoll found only 38 per cent of Queensland voters approved of the job he was doing as compared with LNP leader David Crisafulli who was given a 47 per cent satisfaction rating.
On Newspoll’s reported two-party preferred vote, the LNP would sweep into power with Labor losing 18 seats on a projected 7.2 per cent swing against them.
A major issue dogging Labor is the state’s growing homeless population as tent cities have started popping up near Brisbane’s CBD and even in Mr Miles’s own electorate.
A cluster of tents has been erected in Mckillop Park in Rothwell, north of Brisbane, which sits in Mr Miles’s electorate of Murrumba.
In response Mr Miles has announced a $3billion Home for Queenslanders plan that aims to to build 53,500 new social housing properties in Queensland by 2046.
Since taking over the leadership Mr Miles has been posting images of himself out and about in Queensland as he tries to reverse his government’s falling popularity
It has also ramped up efforts to provide emergency accommodation including buying inner-city hotels and other disused properties to increase capacity.
An increase in crime, particularly by youths, has also taken the gloss off the Queensland Labor government.
Mr Miles caused outrage in February when he appeared to giggle after a question about youth crime was directed to him just days after a horrific stabbing death of a grandmother at a shopping centre.
The repeated attempts by Sky News bureau chief Adam Walters to get him to talk about youth crime at a housing policy launch prompted a giggle from Mr Miles.
His response angered many in the wake of the death of Vyleen White, 70, who was stabbed to death in front of her young granddaughter in the underground carpark of Town Square Redbank Plains Shopping Centre.
The Premier was forced to deny he was being frivolous about the matter, which saw a 15-year-old boy being arrested.
‘No-one in Queensland, myself included, is laughing at this tragedy, and for any news outlet to suggest so is disrespectful,’ he later tweeted.
‘A family and community are grieving. Sensational headlines and misrepresentations have no part to play in Queensland this week.’
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