Queensland became Australia’s first mainland state to elect a center-right government in more than 18 months, breaking the Labor Party’s hold on power ahead of a national election due by May.

The Liberal-National Party would win at least 48 out of 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, more than the 47 needed for a majority in the state parliament, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Eleven seats were still in doubt. The Labor Party had been in office in the northeastern state since January 2015.

“Tonight we get to celebrate the biggest achievement we’ve had in over a decade,” Premier-elect David Crisafulli said in Brisbane in his victory speech late Saturday. “Queenslanders voted for hope over fear.”

Queensland’s campaign was fought on issues that are likely to bleed into the looming federal election. Voters have been frustrated by rising living costs amid a statewide housing shortage and sticky inflation that’s prompted the Reserve Bank of Australia to keep interest rates at a 12-year high.

But a center-right win in Queensland had also been widely anticipated and will clear the decks for Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to move to an election footing. Albanese was believed to be waiting for the defeat of Premier Steven Miles’ unpopular government before heading to the polls himself, with the prime minister hoping to gain seats in Queensland.

However, given federal opposition leader Peter Dutton hails from Queensland, it’s likely to be difficult for Labor to hold on to its existing seats in the state, let alone pick up new ones.

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