Queensland's political landscape has undergone a seismic upheaval, with the dramatic electoral boundary make-over renewing speculation of an early election.
The Queensland Redistribution Commission on Friday officially revealed its draft boundary changes to increase the number of the state's electorates from 89 to 93.
Six seats have been created, two abolished, 13 significantly altered and renamed and all but two redrawn.
It has been described as "fair, ferocious and confusing" by former Speaker of the House John Mickel and has rattled both the minority Labor government and Liberal National Party opposition.
The Brisbane seats of Mt Coot-tha and Indooroopilly have been broken up and merged into the new seat of Maiwar, setting up a battle between Environment Minister Steven Miles and Shadow Treasurer Scott Emerson.
Mr Emerson had the jump on Mr Miles on Friday, with the LNP frontbencher hitting the streets while his counterpart was in Cairns on a previously-arranged trip to the Great Barrier Reef
"I don't know who's going to be running against me but I'm determined to deliver for the new seat as much as I've delivered for the current one," Mr Emerson told reporters.
Shane Knuth's outback seat of Dalrymple will also disappear, broken up between three different seats, including his Katter's Australia Party colleague Rob Katter's electorate which has been renamed from Mt Isa to Traeger.
The furious KAP MPs say the changes appear to be an attempt to "get rid of" minor parties.
"The major parties have got what they wanted, in particular the ALP," Mr Katter said in a statement.
The pair are highly influential cross benchers in the hung parliament and could force an early election under the old seats by ending their support of the Palaszczuk government.
ABC election analyst Antony Green calculates the changes would probably give a slight advantage to Labor, suggesting it would have won 48 seats and the LNP 43 if the 2015 election had been under the new boundaries.
However Mr Green said the effect of the minor parties, especially the resurgent One Nation, could see Labor decide to pull the trigger and go to an election before September, when the new electoral rolls will be finalised.
"I think there's a high chance there will be an early election to resolve this," he told ABC Radio.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Thursday indicated she would wait until after the new seats were in place to call the election, which could be held as late as May 2018.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls was tight-lipped about the effect of the changes, while One Nation MP Steve Dickson believed the election would now be called early.
"We will be prepared for an election to be called with 89 seats, regardless of what the premier is supposed to have put out," Mr Dickson said.
Queensland electoral commissioner Walter van der Merwe called it a "very significant redistribution".
Share
