Housing and crime are the greatest risks for the Crisafulli LNP government as it approaches the halfway point of its first term, with voter sentiment over its efforts in the past year plunging.
Just 22 per cent of voters surveyed in the latest Resolve Political Monitor for this masthead rated the government’s work on housing as “good” – down from 31 per cent one year ago. Sentiment on crime fell from 45 to 37 per cent.
The two are the only topics where the balance of views leaned negative.
Results from the August portion of a two-month polling snapshot come as the government prepares the next controversial tightening of its youth justice bail laws, now earmarked for adults, and remote sentencing.
That broader polling also found voters’ outlook for both the state and themselves had soured over the past year.
October will mark the midpoint for Premier David Crisafulli’s four-year term, after a 2024 election in which the LNP campaigned on fixing “crises” across housing, youth crime, cost of living and health.
The primary vote for the LNP has remained relatively steady above the 30 per cent mark since election and post-election highs in the mid-40s. Steven Miles’ Labor opposition has languished in the mid-to-high 20s this year.
Ascendant support for One Nation at a state level – akin to that federally and across the country, despite the party having no Queensland state MPs and little focus on state issues – had drawn level with Labor before it ebbed.
Miles used his June budget reply to announce new policy pitches in housing and crime, with the opposition this year pushing back on government efforts that go beyond election vows.
On housing, Labor has also appeared to echo the LNP’s strategy while in opposition of hosting “town hall” meetings across the state to hear from – and speak to – the public about their concerns.
The government has leaned heavily on efforts to boost housing supply through releasing government-owned land to developers and funding supporting infrastructure, and financial help for first-home buyers.
A police report in February mapping community sentiment about youth crime through public sources such as social media gave an “extremely negative” score of two out of 10.
Polling for this masthead earlier in the year found most voters across the political spectrum felt the Queensland government had not gone far enough on gun reforms in the wake of the Bondi and Wieambilla shootings.
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