High-energy teacher, school captain Labor’s challenger to longstanding MP
Queensland Labor have selected a highly-driven teacher and former school captain to challenge a two-term Coalition MP, who suffered a vote cut last election.
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A teacher turned Queensland Labor organiser will attempt to wrest the battler electorate of Longman from the Coalition at the impending federal election.
Queensland Labor will on Sunday announce Rhiannyn Douglas as its candidate for Longman, which overlaps with the Moreton Bay City Council suburbs of Caboolture, Bribie Island, Woodford.
Ms Douglas has been pitched as a born and bred local of the area, as a former teacher at Burpengary State Secondary College and school captain at Narangba Valley State High School.
Longman is a marginal Coalition electorate held by two-term MP Terry Young with a margin of 3.08 per cent.
Mr Young suffered a primary vote cut of under 1 per cent at the 2022 federal election despite the widespread hit against the Coalition.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Ms Douglas had the “energy and drive to deliver for her area”.
“I want Rhiannyn as part of my team so we can keep delivering cost-of-living relief like fee-free TAFE, action on housing and more support for services like Meals on Wheels,” he said.
Labor hold just five lower house seats in Queensland, out of 30.
Queensland’s admonishment of the Greens at the state election has buoyed the party’s hopes of giving the minor party a fight in inner-city seats like Brisbane and Griffith, and the Far North Queensland electorate of Leichhardt.
The Coalition needs a net gain of 21 seats across Australia to govern in majority after the next election — a feat if achieved would be the first time since 1931 a federal government would be kept to one term.
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