Both major parties have seats with very slim margins.
And there are a number of newcomers that could complicate the campaign for Labor and the Liberal National Party.
Stefan Armbruster reports.
In June there were dire predictions Labor might only be left with one seat in Queensland - the Brisbane seat of Griffith, held by Kevin Rudd.
If Labor wants to win, it will have to pick up a handful of seats in Queensland to offset expected losses elsewhere.
But since Mr Rudd's return to the top job, everything has changed, including the man himself.
"Everyone in national political life whether it's me, whether it's Mr Howard, whether it's Paul Keating, whether it's Bob Hawke, whether it's Bob Menzies. You speak to any of these folks they'll all readily say there are days where they don't get it right it's just life. And so all of us make mistakes and every government's made mistakes including the one I led as well."
But the stakes have been raised with the surprise announcement former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie as the Labor candidate for the seat of Forde in Brisbane.
He says he's put himself forward to try and maintain balance.
"One of the real concerns I have, one of the reasons I'm running is I want to see Queensland get a fair go. The Labor Party has seven seats in the state parliament. We have eight seats in the federal parliament. That's simply not fair. And everybody knows if you don't have balance in politics, there's no-one to keep the bastards honest."
Coalition Leader Tony Abbott says as Premier, Mr Beattie presided over a state with a failing economy and falling employment.
He says Mr Beattie's decision to run will eventually lead to leadership tensions with Prime Minister Rudd.
"Another flim-flam man who hit people with record debt and deficit, who's just going to add to the leadership instability inside the Labor Party. You might say to me, am I worried about Peter Beattie? Of course not. But I bet Kevin Rudd is."
Kevin Rudd holds Griffith by a a margin of over eight per cent, making it Queensland's safest Labor seat.
He's facing a high-profile Liberal National Party opponent and former head of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Bill Glasson.
"What I can't understand is that here we are in the year 2013 and here we have a former president of the Australian Medical Association representing a political party, which as of today takes money from political donations from tobacco companies around the world. I don't understand how you justify that."
Latest polling shows Labor trailing the conservatives nationally, but in Queensland the Rudd factor caused a swing.
Underlining the importance of Queensland, Tony Abbott headed for Mr Rudd's home town on the first day of the election campaign,
In Queensland, the conservatives have a distinct brand from the rest of the country, the Liberal National Party.
Mr Abbott has promised to spend much time in Queensland during this campaign.
"We are taking every seat in Queensland seriously. We are not complacent about the seats we hold. Similarly we want to be competitive in every seat. So you'll see me again no doubt. Most electorates in the great state of Queensland will see me over the next few weeks."
Of the 30 lower house seats, 21 are held by the Liberal National Party, eight by Labor and the other by Independent M-P Bob Katter.
Five Labor seats and nine held by the LNP have margins of less than five per cent.
Mr Abbott will have to work hard to secure conservative votes in Queensland.
Millionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer and Bob Katter have both established their own Queensland-based parties ahead of the election.
Mr Palmer is considered a bit eccentric, with plans to build a replica of the Titanic and a resort on Queensland's Sunshine Coast resplendent with life-sized dinosaurs.
Announcing his bid to enter federal politics, Clive Palmer stated his Palmer United Party should be leading the country.
"The reason I am standing for federal parliament is that I'm standing to be the next Prime Minister of Australia. That's why we've got the United Australia Party. We're not there to compete with the Katter Party. As far as Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott go, there really is no difference. They're all controlled by the same lobbyist consultancies who employ former ex-Liberal and former ex-Labor (people) so it doesn't matter what happens - the people miss out."
Mr Palmer is Australia's 29th richest person - worth more than 880-million dollars.
A long-time financial supporter of the conservatives, Mr Palmer resigned his life membership of the Queensland Liberal National Party in 2012 after falling out with the party hierarchy.
But the 59 year-old says his decision to enter politics isn't about fame or money.
He says he can offer better service to the community than anyone else.
"I have no personal interest. I have made enough money in my life. I am not seeking any enrichment or wealth for myself, I am seeking it for the Australian people."
Colourful Queensland MP Bob Katter left the then National Party in 2001 after becoming disenchanted with the Coalition's support of National Competition Policy and economic rationalism.
After more than a decade as an independent he is now looking to spread his political ideology with his Katter's Australian Party, launched in May.
He says the KAP will give voters the option they're looking for.
"In the last election, the people of Australia said we're not going to vote for you any longer. We've had enough. You're just continuing with the same policies, we're all losing our jobs, we're all going broke and we're seeing our country being sold off. We're not going to do it any longer."
With so many new options for Queensland conservative voters, opposition leader Tony Abbott is warning if they don't vote directly for the Coalition, they're likely to be stuck with a Labor government or a hung parliament.
