Labor hasn't promised Queenslanders much, but that could be just the reason why the rejuvenated party succeeds in government.
Labor leader Annastacia Palaszczuk has led her party to the cusp of victory just three years after it suffered one of the greatest electoral defeats in Australian political history.
The party was left with just seven seats in the state's 89-seat parliament, but it's miraculously now on track to govern in its own right with only a handful of seats still too close to call.
Queensland University of Technology political scientist Professor Clive Bean says the shock outcome has surprised him, other political pundits and probably even Labor, which seemed only to be prepared to grow its numbers in opposition.
Ms Palaszczuk embarked on a modest campaign spend, pledging $1.6 billion compared to about $6 billion from the Liberal National Party, and promised to put out Labor's infrastructure plan and develop other key policies only after the party was elected.
But Prof Bean says the light-on-detail approach will probably help Labor in its surprise transition into government.
"They haven't got big promises that they have to go out and try and keep, so they won't be disaffecting lots of people by decisions they make," Prof Bean told AAP.
"Because it's not like they'll be breaking many promises."
Labor's commitments are staggeringly different to those which the LNP put forward, backed by its plan to lease about $37 billion worth of state-owned assets.
Senior LNP ministers were quick to criticise Labor's lack of comprehensive economic policies and its modest election commitments, with Premier Campbell Newman describing it as "negligence".
The fact that Labor only spent three years on the opposition benches will also help the party hit the ground running, he said.
Prof Bean expects re-elected Bligh-era ministers, including Kate Jones, Stirling Hinchliffe and Cameron Dick, will also feature prominently in a Palaszczuk government.
And while Ms Palaszczuk's position is safe for now given Labor's unexpected success at the polls, her longevity will depend on her leadership style.
"If she doesn't perform well over time, clearly there will be people waiting in the wings thinking that perhaps they can do it better," Prof Bean said.
"If she proves to be perhaps too indecisive or not forthright enough or doesn't maintain sufficient control over members of the party, then people will clearly be watching closely."
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