A potential kingmaker has turned its back on the Labor government in a major blow to Premier Steven Miles ahead of the Queensland election.
Katter's Australian Party has for the first time thrown its support behind the opposition in a north Queensland region that looks set to influence the October 26 poll.
State leader Robbie Katter on Wednesday confirmed KAP would preference the Liberal National Party in Townsville, a Labor seat held with a 3.1 per cent margin.
North Queensland looms as a make-or-break battleground for the Labor government, with regional areas among the hardest hit by the key election issues - youth crime, health, housing and cost-of-living pressures.
"We've never preferenced against Liberal or Labor anywhere in Queensland," Mr Katter said.
"But we're going to do it this time because we feel (Labor) need to be sent a message somewhere in north Queensland.
"We've been crying out for help about seven or eight years now about the crime problem in North Queensland."
Youth crime problems are a major issue in the election. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)
KAP holds four of Queensland parliament's 93 seats, with 51 held by Labor.
But it is aiming to claim six at the election and could hold the deciding vote from the cross bench on key issues in parliament.
Mr Katter said the party would back the opposition in Townsville after accusing Labor of not addressing crime up north.
Pauline Hanson echoed his belief youth crime was the No.1 election issue, calling on One Nation supporters to preference Labor and the Greens last.
"Labor has done so much damage to Queensland in its term of office since 2015, it has to change and it is time for change," the senator said.
James Ashby is vying for election as a One Nation candidate. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
One Nation had a sole state representative last term, Mirani MP Steven Andrews, but he was disendorsed and will be running for Mr Katter's party at the election.
Ms Hanson hoped One Nation would pick up more seats on October 26, with her former chief of staff James Ashby vying for central Queensland's Keppel, held by Labor on a 5.3 per cent margin.
The premier was unperturbed by the lack of support from the minor parties.
"It doesn't surprise us that the LNP, One Nation and KAP ganged up against us," Mr Miles told reporters in Mackay.
"We will just continue to outline our plans to address the cost of living and to build our state forward, to take our state forward, and we'll be campaigning to win this in our own right."
David Crisafulli and the LNP tried to sell our power assets and they'll do it again.— Steven Miles (@StevenJMiles) My Labor team will set up a publicly-owned energy retailer to drive down prices. We're doing what matters, they will take us backwards.October 2, 2024
Mr Miles had ruled out a coalition deal with minor parties if Labor failed to reach a majority, but said he would follow due process and test the numbers of the floor if it occurred.
On day two of the election campaign, Labor announced it would establish a state-wide publicly owned energy retailer if re-elected.
It would compete with fellow state-owned Ergon Energy in regional Queensland, offering cheaper power prices than private retailers.
Mr Miles said it could save consumers six per cent off power bills.
"This would be a retailer. They would use the existing generation and transmission infrastructure, and we anticipate that they would be up and running within 12 months," he said.
Opposition Leader David Crisafulli has ridiculed Labor's energy pledge. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
The retailer would operate as a subsidiary of Energy Queensland with an expected cost of $1.4 million to establish under business planning from the government.
LNP leader David Crisafulli called it a "desperate thought bubble" while announcing a $30 million agriculture innovation fund to attract research opportunities to improve the sector.
The opposition is tipped to end Labor's nine-year reign, with Mr Crisafulli consistently leading the polls.