Labor still red-hot favourite in TNQ as campaign enters its final days


Labor is still looking like a safe bet for a clean sweep in TNQ - at least according to the online bookies.

With only days to go until the November 25 election, little has changed in the online betting market in TNQ since Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk kicked off the campaign on 30 October.

In this election, the Tropical North is seen as a key battleground for success with wins in the local seats of Cook, Barron River, Mulgrave and Cairns paving the way to government.

While there have been slight changes towards or away from local candidates, the biggest move has been in which party will win government. Online bookmaker Sports Bet now puts Labor in the box seat at $1.72 ahead of the Liberal National Party's $2. 

At the start of the campaign, the LNP were favourites at $1.75 against Labor's $2.

Bookies are often credited with a higher accuracy rate when it comes to elections than polls and pundit predictions. <strike></strike>

Here's a snapshot of today's odds compared with at the start of the campaign.

CAIRNS

Michael Healy (Labor) $1.60 - Previously $1.70
Sam Marino (LNP) $3.20 - Previously $4  
Rob Pyne (Independent) $3.50 - No change

BARRON RIVER

Craig Crawford (Labor) $1.33 - No change
Michael Trout (LNP) $3.30 - No change

MULGRAVE

Curtis Pitt (Labor) $1.07 - Previously $1.05
Karina Samperi (LNP) $21 - No change
Sue Bertuch (One Naiton) $7 - Previously $8 

COOK

Cynthia Lui (Labor) $1.10 - Previously $1.65
Penny Johnson (LNP) $8.50 - Previously $10

With the pre-polling booth on Mulgrave Rd attracting a strong crowd of voters since it opened on November 13, TropicNow asked the Electoral Commission for information on how many people had already voted in TNQ.

Although pre-poll figures are not available for specific regions or individual electorates, a commission spokesperson said there is an increasing trend of voters getting in early.

"At the 2015 election, a total of 526,296 electors (19.64% of the total vote) pre-polled, compared with compared with 245,247 in the 2012 election," the spokesperson said.

"The 114.6% increase reflects an ever increasing trend for electors to vote early."