Malcolm Turnbull has distanced his government from the apparent failure of Queensland's Liberal National Party in Saturday's state election campaign.
He says he has spoken to LNP leaders Tim Nicholls and Deb Frecklington and praised them for a good campaign in a tough environment.
Annastacia Palaszczuk's Labor government looks set to be returned with a small majority of 48 seats in the 93-seat parliament.
The LNP fell well short and faced a swing against it in the southeast of the state, with the loss of at least three senior members, including shadow treasurer Scott Emerson.
But Mr Turnbull wouldn't take any blame for the amalgamated party's failure, even though there has been turmoil at the federal level.
"(Voters) know the difference between state and federal issues, and that was a state election fought on state issues," he told reporters while campaigning in Sydney for the by-election in Bennelong.
Mr Turnbull made just one brief appearance in Queensland during the election campaign, with a short, rousing speech at the LNP launch and a short street walk last Sunday.
He said he would wait until all votes were counted before commenting further.
"But at this stage we will be very interested to see if Annastacia Palaszczuk is prepared to stick to her pledge not to accept the support of any independent or minor party," the prime minister said.
