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Politics unearths a new superstar

AAP

AAP

Whitlam. Hawke. Goss. Now Palaszczuk.

To her Labor faithful, Annastacia Palaszczuk has become the party’s latest hero.

As she arrived at Queensland’s Labor function after voters went to the polls on Saturday, she was welcomed like one.

Known affectionately to her supporters as Stacia, Ms Palaszczuk’s nickname reverberated off the walls in a raucous chant as she jostled her way to the lectern at the Lions Soccer Club at Richlands.

While almost guaranteed to be Queensland’s next premier, Ms Palaszczuk was not quite prepared to claim victory as she addressed hundreds of beaming and shouting party faithful.

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Annastacia Palaszczuk

Annastacia Palaszczuk with Milton Dick, leader of the opposition at the Brisbane City Council. Photo: AAP

“Well, I said it was going to be a David and Goliath battle and it certainly was,” she said.

“Who would have thought three years ago, we would have been making history tonight?”

Labor was left with a meagre seven seats in the state’s 89-seat parliament when the Liberal National Party (LNP) romped to victory in 2012.

Ms Palaszczuk wished Premier Campbell Newman well, after he conceded defeat in his seat of Ashgrove, and thanked Queenslanders for putting their trust in the party.

“I will value that trust,” she said.

Her father, Henry Palaszczuk, who was replaced by his daughter in his seat if Inala in 2006, said she was probably the only person who believed Labor would return so soon from the political wilderness.

“To achieve the result that she did achieve is a real credit to her,” he said proudly.

“She was relentless, she was determined, she formulated policies.”

Her grandmother, Beryl Erskine, had more faith earlier in the night, predicting she would “definitely” become premier.

“Her best quality? Her brains, she’s got a brain,” she said.

But the party faithful, including senior Labor staffers, looked on in amazement as seats kept falling their way during the evening.

Avril Bourne, 79, was hopeful of victory, but couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

“I haven’t really taken it all in, I mean, it’s just a shock,” she said.

Will Sawyer, 18, voted in his first election, but still reflected on the importance of the moment.

“It’s pretty damn historic,” he said.

“They had the biggest majority of possibly any Westminster democracy and we’ve taken that and turned it into one term and that’s just unbelievable – out of this world.”

Ms Palaszczuk only made a fleeting visit before her supporters, before being whisked away.

But before leaving the deafening cheers, she refused to rule out a minority government, simply telling reporters she was hopeful Labor would win enough seats to rule in its own right.

AAP

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