On October 26 this year, Queensland (QLD) voters took to the polls to elect a new state government. After nine years of Queensland Labor Party rule, and for only the second time since 1989, the center-right Liberal National Party (LNP) won. Labor’s vote sank 7 percent, losing the party fifteen seats while the LNP’s vote shot up 5.6 percent, resulting in a gain of sixteen seats.

The result wasn’t as bad for Labor as polls held some months in advance had predicted, in part due to a suite of progressive (albeit moderate) reforms presented to voters by former premier Steven Miles. It was, however, QLD Labor’s second-lowest vote share since the party kicked out Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s arch-conservative government in 1989. And while the election saw the two major parties receive their third-lowest combined vote share since then, it nonetheless bucked a federal trend that has seen minor parties increase their vote. The conservative North Queensland Katter’s Australia Party lost a seat. And despite a 0.8 percent swing in its favor, the right-wing One Nation party failed to reenter Queensland’s unicameral parliament.

It was also a disappointing result for the Queensland Greens, especially given the party’s seemingly well-founded optimism leading into the vote. Since 2016, the QLD Greens have consistently gained votes and seats by building a volunteer army and campaigning on a forthrightly left-wing platform. In 2024, the party ran its largest ground campaign yet, knocking on over 125,000 doors in just six seats, an effort that outpaced the two major parties’ efforts across Brisbane.