The One Nation leader has emerged as a spectre for Queensland political pundits who remember when her personal popularity took her party to a 23% primary vote, nabbing 11 seats in the state’s unicameral parliament in 1998.
While she is yet to see those heights uniformly, with One Nation polling at about 15% in statewide Newspolls and hovering at about 8% nationwide, seat by seat it is a different story.
“It is definitely a factor,” one party heavyweight told Guardian Australia. “Not the only one. There are boundary redistributions, local factors and other issues but it is there.
“There are those within the party pushing for it to happen soon, looking at the Newspoll figures, worried it will increase. But then the seat-by-seat figures are showing One Nation is much higher than that, across a range of seats.
“So you have to weigh up – can we turn that around? Do we risk more seats heading that way?”
