Qld voters not yet sold on four-year terms

Queensland's major parties will step up a push for MPs to serve longer parliamentary terms with polling suggesting voters aren't sold on the idea.

A Galaxy Poll of 540 Brisbane voters, published in The Courier-Mail on Monday, indicated 48 per cent of voters wanted the state's three-year unfixed parliamentary terms changed to four-year fixed terms.

The poll said 35 per cent were opposed and 17 per cent undecided.

Given undecided voters often stick with the status quo in referendums, the March 19 poll could come down to the wire.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk on Monday promised to ramp up the campaign for the "yes" vote, so Queenslanders knew how they'd benefit by giving MPs another year in office.

"It's about certainty, it's about having a fixed (election) date in October," she said.

"Governments no longer will have the discretion to hold an election, for example, during school holidays as we witnessed last time."

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg said the current system, which allows governments to set the election date to suit their own purposes, meant the average parliamentary term in Queensland was only two years and eight months, hindering the ability to plan long term.

"I just ask people to consider the benefits that come from them knowing when the election date's going to be," he said.

"The fact that it allows proper planning for business, but it does add certainty for people's own personal lives as well."

While both major parties and industry and union groups support the change, Katter's Australian Party, The Greens and civil liberties groups are opposed, arguing it will water down democracy in Queensland even further.

While every other state in Australia has four-year terms, Queensland's upper house was abolished in 1922, meaning the government has less scrutiny and review than other states.

"Elections are the only protection voters have against politicians who ignore the views of the community," Queensland Greens spokesman Andrew Bartlett said.

"Giving governments more time to rush through measures they know the public doesn't want will inevitably mean policies like privatisation will keep resurfacing, no matter how often the public rejects them."