Elections a bloody affair in Queensland

Elections in Queensland should come with a graphic content warning: Viewers be advised the following may contain more casualties than a Game of Thrones marathon.

Queenslanders have a history of wielding their vote like a sword, with the ambition often to not just cut down, but to dismember whichever political party is in their sights.

Historically, it's been the ALP that has been more often the victim of these brutal assaults, most notably the 1996 election where anger at prime minister Paul Keating had voters "sitting on their verandahs with baseball bats, waiting for the writs to be issued," as then premier Wayne Goss lamented.

In the ensuing bloodbath, Labor won just two of the state's 26 federal seats.

It fared only marginally better in 2013, holding on to six seats as voters rejected the turbulence of the Rudd Gillard years.

But when Labor does well here it tends to win government, like in 2007 when the state accounted for one third of the 27 seats won nationally as part of the so-called Rudd-slide.

Unsurprisingly, Bill Shorten has been a regular visitor to the state in recent months; in non-sitting weeks it's not a question of whether he'll make a stop in Queensland, but which marginal seat he'll be dropping by.

He has already made infrastructure spending a key battleground, promising to help fund upgrades to the M1 and Ipswich motorways in southeast Queensland.

The economy will also be crucial for both sides, especially with the unemployment rate sitting above the national average at around six per cent, and as high as 10 per cent in some areas.

Meanwhile, the plight of the Great Barrier Reef will be front of mind for many voters, especially those in tourism centres like Cairns, after the natural wonder suffered the worst bleaching event in its history.

Labor is reportedly targeting 12 seats it sees as winnable in the state and, baring a disastrous campaign by Mr Shorten, it is almost certain to pick up at least the low hanging fruit, like Petrie, on Brisbane's northern outskirts, which is held by the LNP with a margin of just half a per cent.

Malcolm Turnbull, on the other hand, will need to play a defensive game: if he can restrict losses to one or two seats in Queensland the LNP will be well on its way to retaining government.