QUEENSLAND Premier Peter Beattie says today's Gaven by-election on the Gold Coast is unwinnable for his government and defeat would threaten his leadership.
Mr Beattie has predicted during the three week campaign that a landslide loss was inevitable for the government after controversial Labor MP Robert Poole resigned and forced the by-election. The government fears that the 30,000 Gold Coast residents voting in the by-election today will opt to punish Labor over health issues and their "absentee MP".
Mr Beattie told the ABC he thinks the odds have improved slightly but he will not say if it is because of his cyclone relief efforts in north Queensland in the past two weeks.
"I've simply done my job, but I will never take advantage of someone's hardship for political purposes," he told the ABC.
Labor lost Redcliffe and Chatsworth to the Liberals last year and Mr Beattie says he will be under pressure if it is "strike three".
"If we lose three by-elections in a row, of course, it puts pressure on my leadership and I'd be dishonest if I said otherwise," he said.
"But I do intend to soldier on and I do intend to take the party into the next election, it just makes my job more difficult."
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