By Kat Wong in Canberra

Queensland voters have warned the major political parties not to take abortion to the national stage ahead of a federal election.

Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli claimed victory in the Queensland contest on Saturday night, putting an end to Labor’s nine-year reign.

Though signs are pointing to a majority government for the LNP, the win was not the landslide predicted by opinion polls leading up to the vote.

Federal Nationals leader David Littleproud conceded Mr Crisafulli’s handling of the pregnancy termination debate had an impact.

“It cost the LNP some votes,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“David (Crisafulli), on reflection, would probably prefer to have been stronger in his language – in being certain that there won’t be any changes to the laws.

“(But) it was an emphatic win.”

Abortion emerged as one of the biggest issues in the Queensland election after state crossbencher Robbie Katter announced he would introduce a bill to repeal abortion laws before walking back his proposal to “born alive” legislation.

As the polling date drew nearer, the LNP leader was asked more than 100 times about his stance on abortion before finally clarifying he was pro-choice.

This was a significant driving factor for women’s votes, federal cabinet minister Murray Watt said.

“The confusion and uncertainty around the LNP position on abortion really cut through, particularly with women and also with young voters,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“People in this day and age were horrified to think that a government might be looking at recriminalising abortion.”

Abortion is legal in every Australian state and territory, but its access has come under attack in recent weeks.

In South Australia, a proposal to ban pregnancy terminations after 28 weeks was shut down by a single vote in October.

Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price took abortion to the national stage days before the Queensland election after reportedly claiming late-term pregnancy termination was akin to “infanticide”, urging opposition MPs not to shy away from the issue.

Mr Littleproud and other members of the federal opposition’s frontbench have assured Australians there are no plans to take the issue to a national election, which must occur by May 2025.

“It’s not an issue for the federal party to enter into and we’ll be getting on with focusing on the cost of living, proper migration policy and getting this country back on track,” he said.

The Queensland LNP appears poised to win majority with 49 seats to Labor’s 30, though the count is ongoing.

Despite Labor’s loss, Senator Watt said it remained a “pretty amazing result” for the party, as the vote had not gone too far backwards in seats around Cairns – where the federal, marginal electorate Leichhardt is located – or in regional seats.

“I actually take great hope from the results last night,” Senator Watt said.

“You always prefer to win an election, but if we were going to lose, at least there’s a very healthy opposition.”

The Greens, which held two seats in the previous parliament, are yet to officially win a seat, also bolstering Labor’s prospects of reclaiming some Queensland electorates lost to the minor party at the 2022 federal election.

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