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Queensland Premier Steven Miles is staring down the barrel of a crushing election defeat later this year despite a blitz on social media, including showing his fatherly affection by making his children’s lunches.
The latest Newspoll, published in News Ltd newspapers on Friday, showed the Liberal National Party had opened a significant gap in Mr Miles’ government and threatened to end Labour’s nine years in power at the upcoming state election in October.
Newspoll had the LNP leading the two-party preferred vote by 54 per cent to 46 per cent – a 10-point drop in Labour’s position since winning the last state election in 2020 under then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Labor president Stephen Miles has shown off his school cooking skills but failed to impress voters, according to the latest Newspoll
The inquiry dampens hopes that the handover of the leadership by Ms Palaszczuk – who announced her retirement from politics in December – to Mr Miles would reverse Labour’s decline in the polls.
Since becoming prime minister, Mr Miles has sought to revive the government’s faltering fortunes with a series of policy announcements and a continuous stream of social media posts starring himself.
He has made a habit of delivering political monologues while making his children’s lunches in social media posts along with sharing plenty of photos and videos of him out and about in Queensland.
While Mr Miles usually flashes a big grin for the camera – his nickname coming up through the Labor ranks is ‘Giggles’ – his latest approval ratings are not much to smile about.
Newspoll found only 38 per cent of Queensland voters approved of the job he was doing, compared to LNP leader David Crisafulli who received a 47 per cent satisfaction rating.
On Newspoll’s reported two-party preferred vote, the LNP would sweep into power, with Labor losing 18 seats on a projected 7.2 per cent swing against them.
A major issue dogging Labor is the state’s growing homeless population, as tent cities have started popping up near Brisbane’s CBD and even among Mr Miles’ own electorate.
A cluster of tents has been erected at Mckillop Park in Rothwell, north of Brisbane, which sits in Mr Miles’ electorate of Murrumba.
In response, Mr Miles has announced a $3 billion Home for Queenslanders plan that aims to build 53,500 new social housing properties in Queensland by 2046.
Since taking over, Mr Miles has posted pictures of himself in Queensland as he tries to reverse his government’s declining popularity.
It has also increased efforts to provide emergency accommodation, including the purchase of hotels in the city and other derelict properties to increase capacity.
A rise in crime, particularly among young people, has also taken the shine off the Queensland Labor government.
Sir. Miles sparked outrage in February when he appeared to giggle after a question about youth crime was directed at him, days after the horrific stabbing death of a grandmother in a shopping centre.
Repeated attempts by Sky News bureau chief Adam Walters to get him to talk about youth crime at a housing policy launch left Mr Miles giggling.
His response angered many in the wake of the death of Vyleen White, 70, who was stabbed to death in front of her young grandson in the underground car park at Town Square Redbank Plains Shopping Centre.
The premier was forced to deny that he was being frivolous about the case, in which a 15-year-old boy was arrested.
“No one in Queensland, including myself, is laughing at this tragedy and it is disrespectful for a news outlet to suggest so,” he later tweeted.
‘A family and a community mourn. Sensational headlines and misrepresentations won’t matter in Queensland this week.’