Steven Miles will today nominate to continue to lead Queensland Labor in opposition at the party’s first caucus meeting since losing the state election.
David Crisafulli led the LNP to its first state election victory in nine years.
It is set to rule in a majority, with the party projected to win 51 seats as counting continues.
The former premier said he would support Cameron Dick to continue as deputy leader, with both running unopposed for the roles.
However, Mr Miles has flagged “significant changes in the cabinet line-up”.
He said there was “no doubt” former health minister Shannon Fentiman would play a “very senior role” in the opposition.
Steven Miles and Shannon Fentiman on the campaign trail together in Bundaberg. (ABC News: Alex Brewster)
None of Labor’s current members have served in opposition before.
Mr Miles said his job now was to hold the government to account.
“I had a chance during the campaign to show Queenslanders who I am and what I stand for and I will continue to do that for these next few years,” he told reporters on Monday.
“I think you saw during the campaign just how I intend to hold David Crisafulli to account and that is the type of opposition leader I will be.”
The government has confirmed the final two parliamentary sittings this year will be on November 26 to 28 and December 10 to 12.
Former treasurer Cameron Dick is set to nominate for deputy leader. (ABC News: Christopher Gillette)
Three seats remain in doubt more than a week after the election, including the seat of Aspley where former transport minister Bart Mellish is currently trailing the LNP’s Amanda Cooper.
Today is the deadline for the electoral commission to receive all the postal votes, and the distribution of preference count will start on Wednesday.
Former Labor speaker and Queensland University of Technology adjunct associate professor John Mickel said the task for Labor now was to identify where things went wrong, address its policies and take that to the people.
Mr Mickel said the Labor Party has to accept there had been a “political realignment”.
Following the election, Labor is not projected to win a seat west of Townsville, Mackay or Ipswich.
The party currently sits at third, behind the LNP and Katter’s Australian Party, in the seats of Traeger and Mirani.
On first preferences Labor has been beaten in Toowoomba, defeated in Mackay for the first time in a century and lost all three seats in Townsville.
However, Labor’s Tom Smith is projected to retain Bundaberg, which was the most marginal seat in the state at the 2020 election.
Mr Mickel said this raised questions about why the party was not able to hold onto other regional seats.
Tom Smith is projected to retain the seat of Bundaberg after winning by just nine votes in 2020. (ABC Wide Bay: Johanna Marie)
He described Labor as an “over-urbanised party in a non-urbanised state” and said it could not reach 47 seats — the number needed to govern in a majority — without the regions.
Labor’s immediate focus, Mr Mickel said, should be on employing key staff and attending “absolutely everything” to build networks, and then using questions on notice and estimates to its advantage.
