Newman predicts 'One Nation Qld coalition'
- Jamie Mckinnell
- Australian Associated Press
- 6:15PM November 15, 2016
- Save
Queensland will have a coalition government comprising One Nation and a major party after the next election, according to former premier Campbell Newman.
Mr Newman also predicts his former treasurer and current Liberal National Party leader Tim Nicholls will also have to publicly confront that reality if he's to become the state's next premier.
Speaking on Sky News on Monday night, Mr Newman said he believed One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson was "an older and wiser politician" than 20 years ago.
"Things could change, of course, but I think the next government in Queensland will have to be a coalition government with One Nation," he said.
"You can talk preferences all you like, but they're going to win enough seats."
Mr Newman compared inaccurate polling on Ms Hanson's popularity with the lead-up to president-elect Donald Trump's surprising victory in the US.
"There was a poll in Queensland on the weekend that says she was at 16 per cent cent," Mr Newman said.
"I think it's over 20."
Regarding preferences, he predicted Ms Hanson would "keep her powder dry" and that it would ultimately come down to a seat-by-seat basis.
Mr Newman admitted Ms Hanson's sympathies were likely to lie with the LNP.
"Tim Nicholls might be the next Queensland premier, but he's going to have to confront that issue and he's going to have to answer in the media," he said.
Labor has pledged to preference One Nation last at the next poll, which is due by early 2018, however Mr Nicholls has repeatedly danced around the question and said it was a matter for the party's executive.
Both parties have declared they will attempt to combat the One Nation threat by "listening to the concerns" of the electorate.
