Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk may be forced to break an election promise and deal with a diverse crossbench to secure a second term with Labor still short of the 47 seats it needs for a majority.
Labor at the close of counting on Tuesday, three days after the election, had 44 seats and is predicted to win 48. The Liberal National Party has 36, and there are at least four crossbenchers.
But nine seats are still in doubt and the vote is incredibly tight in some seats where an ALP candidate could fall to the Greens or an independent.
Ms Palaszczuk has said she is extremely confident of securing a majority, but LNP leader Tim Nicholls says the election is not over and Ms Palaszczuk should not assume Labor has won.
"The counting has swayed since Saturday night, and seats that people thought weren't going to be in play are clearly in play," he told reporters on the Sunshine Coast at his first press conference since election night, when the LNP suffered a significant swing against it.
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Mr Nicholls questioned whether Ms Palaszczuk would renege her promise not to cut deals to form a minority government, and challenged her to let him form government if she can't.
"Is she backtracking from the commitment she gave or will she do what she said she would do and go into opposition if she cannot get a clear majority when the count is finished?" Mr Nicholls asked.
Labor has improved its representation, up from 41 in the previous parliament. But the parliament has been expanded to 93 seats, and the crossbench this time will be larger and more varied.
It will include a solitary One Nation MP, Stephen Andrew from Mirani, but not state leader Steve Dickson who lost Buderim to the LNP.
It's unlikely Ms Palaszczuk would deal with One Nation after she campaigned relentlessly against the Pauline Hanson's party.
But the crossbench will also include up to three of MPs from Katter's Australian Party - Robbie Katter, Shane Knuth and likely Nick Dametto; and at least one independent, maybe two.
The Greens could also have their first MP in the Queensland parliament, with the minority party locked in a tight race against Labor in the inner Brisbane Maiwar electorate.
It comes after shadow treasurer Scott Emerson conceded defeat in Maiwar, a high-profile casualty for the LNP.
"While the eventual winner in #Maiwar remains uncertain, it's clear it will not be the @LNPQLD," Mr Emerson tweeted.
Greens candidate Michael Berkman was on Tuesday afternoon only 37 votes ahead of Labor's Ali King on a primary basis.
The single seat won by One Nation falls well short of the ultra conservative party's pre-election hopes to hold the balance of power.
Of the seats still in the balance, Rockhampton looks like it'll be won by independent candidate Margaret Strelow meaning two independents will be in parliament following Sandra Bolton's win in the seat of Noosa.
A definitive result could be several days away, with postal and pre-poll votes still being counted.
