It seems that Queensland faces a repeat of the 1998 election when voters decided there was a pox on both the National-Liberal and Labor houses.
In 1998 the first-term National-Liberal Government led by Rob Borbidge had vexed many voters by interfering with the independent corruption watchdog, ignoring parliamentary convention and creating scandal after scandal, starting with a secret deal with the Police Union.
But it was too soon after the demise of the Goss Government for a majority to forgive Labor and vote them back into power.
How could people register their frustration that they believed neither of the two major political machines could deliver the sort of government they wanted?
Pauline Hanson, with her policies of hate, envy and simplistic solutions emerged from deserved obscurity to take 23 per cent of the vote and win 11 seats.
The despised National-Liberal coalition lost 12 seats, leaving them with 32 of the 89 seats.
And Labor, despite having presented voters with an extensive range of detailed policies, fell one short of being able to form government by itself.
Eventually, it formed a minority government with the backing of independent MP Peter Wellington.
In 2015 it seems logical to suggest that it will be the Palmer United Party and Katter's Australian Party which are likely to reap the votes of the disillusioned voters.
Whether this results in another minority government or whether the ALP can garner sufficient votes to govern in its own right depends on the strength and credibility of Labor's policies, its candidates and its leadership.
What is beyond all doubt is that the LNP will become another one-term government.
When governments are on the nose they can recover public confidence if they act quickly and determinedly to rectify the problems which have occurred.
If they fail to do this and continue to make major errors of judgement they reach a tipping point beyond which they cannot recover.
The Redcliffe and Stafford by-election wipeouts mean the Newman Government, like the Bligh Government before it, is now doomed whatever escape routes it tries.
Internal polling would have alerted the Premier to the impending disaster at Stafford and he would have consulted with senior colleagues about announcing a series of u-turns immediately after the election.
But he can't erase people's memories and he can't undo many of the government's unpopular decisions.
For instance, he can't sack the inappropriately-appointed chief justice, he can't repair the damaged lives suffered by the families of sacked nurses and other public servants and ditching pink prison jump suits still leaves the hugely controversial bikie laws virtually intact.
Worse, he has vowed to continue with the decisions to make it easier to hide political donations and to sell public assets if re-elected, which involves telling massive lies about the extent of the debt which has to be dealt with by the budget.
Premier Newman lost even more credibility on election night when, instead of admitting the appalling result at Stafford was due to government mistakes, he sought to blame former LNP MP Chris Davis.
The fact that many people regard Dr Davis as being a man of principle for resigning rather than support policies he saw as objectionable suggests Mr Newman will continue to antagonise voters.
Premier Newman would have called all his senior advisors together in the Executive Building immediately after the election to try to convince them that they can still win the next election.
The most astute of them would have already been updating their CVs ready to find new jobs as soon as possible. They will not want to be among a couple of hundred advisors all competing for a limited number of jobs at the same time when the LNP crashes out of government.
And losing these key players will make it even more difficult for the Newman Government to make the best decisions and sell its message.
In 1998 the first-term National-Liberal Government led by Rob Borbidge had vexed many voters by interfering with the independent corruption watchdog, ignoring parliamentary convention and creating scandal after scandal, starting with a secret deal with the Police Union.
But it was too soon after the demise of the Goss Government for a majority to forgive Labor and vote them back into power.
How could people register their frustration that they believed neither of the two major political machines could deliver the sort of government they wanted?
Pauline Hanson, with her policies of hate, envy and simplistic solutions emerged from deserved obscurity to take 23 per cent of the vote and win 11 seats.
The despised National-Liberal coalition lost 12 seats, leaving them with 32 of the 89 seats.
And Labor, despite having presented voters with an extensive range of detailed policies, fell one short of being able to form government by itself.
Eventually, it formed a minority government with the backing of independent MP Peter Wellington.
In 2015 it seems logical to suggest that it will be the Palmer United Party and Katter's Australian Party which are likely to reap the votes of the disillusioned voters.
Whether this results in another minority government or whether the ALP can garner sufficient votes to govern in its own right depends on the strength and credibility of Labor's policies, its candidates and its leadership.
What is beyond all doubt is that the LNP will become another one-term government.
When governments are on the nose they can recover public confidence if they act quickly and determinedly to rectify the problems which have occurred.
If they fail to do this and continue to make major errors of judgement they reach a tipping point beyond which they cannot recover.
The Redcliffe and Stafford by-election wipeouts mean the Newman Government, like the Bligh Government before it, is now doomed whatever escape routes it tries.
Internal polling would have alerted the Premier to the impending disaster at Stafford and he would have consulted with senior colleagues about announcing a series of u-turns immediately after the election.
But he can't erase people's memories and he can't undo many of the government's unpopular decisions.
For instance, he can't sack the inappropriately-appointed chief justice, he can't repair the damaged lives suffered by the families of sacked nurses and other public servants and ditching pink prison jump suits still leaves the hugely controversial bikie laws virtually intact.
Worse, he has vowed to continue with the decisions to make it easier to hide political donations and to sell public assets if re-elected, which involves telling massive lies about the extent of the debt which has to be dealt with by the budget.
Premier Newman lost even more credibility on election night when, instead of admitting the appalling result at Stafford was due to government mistakes, he sought to blame former LNP MP Chris Davis.
The fact that many people regard Dr Davis as being a man of principle for resigning rather than support policies he saw as objectionable suggests Mr Newman will continue to antagonise voters.
Premier Newman would have called all his senior advisors together in the Executive Building immediately after the election to try to convince them that they can still win the next election.
The most astute of them would have already been updating their CVs ready to find new jobs as soon as possible. They will not want to be among a couple of hundred advisors all competing for a limited number of jobs at the same time when the LNP crashes out of government.
And losing these key players will make it even more difficult for the Newman Government to make the best decisions and sell its message.
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