The Queensland premier says he is not surprised a poll has the opposition on track to win the October state election.
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An unfazed Steven Miles has likened an election win with climbing a mountain higher than Everest.
"This poll just confirms that I'm not even at base camp yet," he told reporters on Friday.
The Liberal National Party leads the two-party preferred vote 54 per cent to 46 per cent in the opinion poll released on Friday.
That could lead to the LNP winning an extra 18 seats, enough to make a majority government, according to the poll published by News Corp.
It was not an encouraging sign before the Labor government faces another litmus test at the Inala and Ipswich West by-elections this weekend.
But Mr Miles says the Newspoll results reflect what he has been saying since he took over in December.
"There's no surprises in this poll. It was always clear that this was going to be a very, very hard election to win," he said.
"On the day I was elected premier three months ago, (I said) it was like climbing a mountain higher than Everest, that's how hard this is - this poll just confirms that I'm not even at base camp yet.
"But I'm going to keep fighting, keep campaigning, keep working, keep governing, keep listening, keep delivering every single day."
The opposition also leads the primary vote, by 42 per cent to 30 per cent.
Labor's primary vote is down 10 points since the last state election in 2020, which it won under former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The LNP recorded a six-point improvement in the same period.
Mr Miles' approval ratings are behind Opposition leader David Crisafulli, 37 per cent to 43 per cent.
Twenty per cent of the 1037 people surveyed were undecided on their preferred premier.
Mr Crisafulli still claimed he was an underdog on Friday, saying he was not driven by the poll numbers.
"I want Queenslanders to know we are serious about being a united and focused opposition," he told reporters.
"And whilst we remain firmly the underdogs, we are putting forward every opportunity to drive change in October."
The Newspoll comes ahead of Saturday's Inala and West Ipswich by-elections, which are expected to provide another pre-election gauge.
History will be made by whoever wins at Inala, considered Queensland's safest Labor seat.
It will mark the first time Inala will not be represented by a Palaszczuk family member.
Contested for the first time in 1992, the electorate was initially represented by Ms Palaszczuk's father Henry.
He went on to become a senior minister before being succeeded by his daughter who resigned in December.
An Ipswich West by-election was triggered by Labor MP Jim Madden departing in January.
He will run for election in the Ipswich City Council this weekend.
The premier expected a double digit swing at Ipswich West.
"We would expect a very big swing also in Inala but obviously with a much bigger margin, there's more chance that we will win there," he said.
Australian Associated Press
