Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk's father says his daughter is closing on victory in the Queensland election because she kept people safe during COVID-19.
Henry Palaszczuk says all leaders in Australia, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, stepped up in the fight against the virus.
The former Queensland primary industries minister says his daughter kept people safe and allayed their fears in a "horrendous year".
"In Queensland and WA and the other states people wanted a bit more," Mr Palaszczuk told reporters at the premier's election night party in suburban Inala.
"What people wanted was to be isolated, and they know if you're if they're isolated that they'll be protected."
Federal Labor MP Wayne Swan said Ms Palaszczuk overcame a campaign against her from powerful enemies including Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
He said Mr Morrison should be worried with Labor being competitive in Queensland again after their federal election drubbing in 2019.
"Prime Minister Morrison has spent more time in this state than I can recall any leader or prime minister in generations, campaigning against the state government, and pot-shotted her health response every day," he told AAP.
"Well he's just got two fingers from the Queensland electorate."
Queensland Council of Unions president John Battams said voters did not buy the campaign against COVID-19 border closures.
"The large tourism operators, the LNP federal government - it wasn't about the health and safety of Queenslanders," he told AAP.
"And that fundamental premise which the premier held, was: 'you got to get COVID right between getting the economy right'."
Mr Battams said despite conservative parties preferencing each other and all going against Labor, they had failed.
Mr Swan also lashed out at businessman Clive Palmer's anti-Labor death tax ads.
He accused Mr Palmer and the LNP of undermining democracy and said Australia needs new laws to stop disinformation.
"Setting up a fake political party to attract public funding and then working in concert with the LNP on a massive disinformation campaign is profoundly anti-democratic and a threat to our democracy," he said.
"And we need new laws to knock it out."
Mr Palaszczuk said his daughter never deserved the nickname "the accidental premier" after her shock win in the 2015 election.
His daughter was school prefect at the age of seven, she led debating teams in high school and she was very active in campus politics, he noted.
"It was just her destiny," Mr Palaszczuk said.
The premier is set to win her seat of Inala, which she's held since 2006, for the sixth time on Saturday night.
Mr Palaszczuk held the seat before his daughter and was elected eight times, earning himself the nickname 'Henry the eighth'.
"The reason why Annastacia was having to take over is because I didn't want to change the course of history by becoming 'Henry the ninth', so I retired," he said.
Australian Associated Press
