Qld vote count creep towards victories

Queenslanders have begun what could be a long wait to find out who will sit on their new council and claim two seats in state parliament.

Vote counting has been slowed by precautions to avoid spreading coronavirus, including a large number of postal votes and extra hygiene measures.

The seat of Bundamba will be held by Labor with candidate Lance McCallum, ABC election analyst Antony Green said on Saturday night.

The seat was left vacant by the resignation of long-term Labor MP Jo-Ann Miller.

Her exit from politics came after Jann Stuckey quit politics after holding the Gold Coast seat of Currumbin for the Liberal National Party.

Barrister Laura Gerber is running for the LNP there, and was in the lead against Labor's Kaylee Campradt.

Labor holds a sizeable margin in Bundamba, while the LNP has held Currumbin since 2004.

These polls will not change the government but will be watched closely as indicators of what's to come at October's state election.

However the results may not be known by the end of the night, as more than 570,000 residents were expected to vote by mail.

Results for 77 councils are unclear.

Brisbane is Australia's largest council and has been held by the Liberal National Party since 2004.

Adrian Schrinner, sworn in as Lord Mayor last year when Graham Quirk resigned in 2019, was leading over Labor candidate Patrick Condren on Saturday night.

One thing is for certain.

Lawrence Springborg, former leader of the Liberal National Party, will return to politics after running unopposed for mayor of Goondiwindi.

Eyes will be focused on a number of regions in the state's southeast.

Ipswich and Logan will also be watched with interest after the mayors in both regions were punted from office following investigations by the Crime and Corruption Commission.

Teresa Harding was ahead in poll for Ipswich mayor and Darren Power was leading the pack in Logan on Saturday night.

Tom Tate was headed towards a return on the Gold Coast.