LNP candidate for Herbert Phil Thompson could be Prime Minister’s secret weapon

He was the kid raised by a single mother on struggle street, a school dropout-turned killer who could now be Scott Morrison’s electoral weapon in Queensland.

HE WAS the kid raised by a single mother on struggle street, a school dropout-turned killer who is now Scott Morrison’s electoral weapon in Queensland.

Phil Thompson barely had hair on his chest when he put himself through night school to join the Australian Army, and at just 21 years old, walked on a bomb in Afghanistan, by sheer luck losing only his memory.

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Wallowing in a three-year haze of booze, anger and shame because he couldn’t help protect his mates in war, his wife Jenna dragged the digger in front of a mirror to ask, “who are you?”

Jenna, 30, the daughter of a Palm Island woman born in jail, had literally saved her husband’s life countless times after he passed out from an untreated brain bleed.

She knew he wasn’t honouring his dead Army “brothers” like he always promised, so she gave him the “kick in the bum” he needed – and it worked.

Mr Thompson, then just 26 years old, turned his life around for the second time, taking on a new fight that would catapult him into a political battle.

His new mission was to fight for better mental health and suicide prevention for Diggers, with his dedication earning him the Queensland Young Australian of the Year last year.

Liberal candidate in Herbert Phillip Thompson in Townsville. Picture: Kym Smith

The personal story of the LNP candidate for Herbert, the only electorate in Queensland likely to be won off Labor, is also one of a great Australia – where opportunity and hard work can break the cycle of poverty.

But for Mr Thompson, there’s another pattern dogging him – Diggers who come back from war and commit suicide.

on Friday, five minutes before he stood next to Prime Minister Morrison, Mr Thompson, 30, received another dreaded call – one of his mates who had served with him in Afghanistan had taken his own life.

He privately told Scott Morrison the news before facing a national press pack drilling him with questions.

Speaking to The Courier-Mail yesterday, Mr Morrison said he told Mr Thompson that he did not have to attend the press conference, but the former soldier didn’t hesitate.

Liberal candidate in Herbert Phillip Thompson.

“That’s why I had my arm on him during the press conference. I don’t usually do that,” Mr Morrison said.

“The really sad thing for me was that he didn’t look surprised.”

The Prime Minister said Mr Thompson had a natural instinct when it came to helping people and hoped he would be elected on May 18.

“He’s very organised and was on to me (about what was needed) after the (Townsville) floods.”

Herbert, held by Cathy O’Toole, is the nation’s most marginal seat and the country’s biggest garrison city. Labor won it by just 37 votes in 2016.

“I’m a father first,’’ Mr Thompson said, explaining why he wants to become a Federal MP.

“I don’t see (opportunity) here for (one-year-old daughter Astin) at the moment.

“I see high unemployment, high crime, a lack of confidence, shops for lease and for- sale signs.

“If I ... don’t fight, what’s going to keep her here? Will she want to do uni somewhere else if she wants to, will she want to move to the southeast corner (to get a job)?”

Mr Thompson has been campaigning full-time for 11 months, using his savings to pay his bills.

Telling his story is hard because the nitty gritty of life before the 2009 was erased by the IED.

Phil Thompson shows a tattoo of the name of his mate Benny Ranaudo who was killed in action in Afghanistan in 2009. Picture: Kym Smith

“I didn’t really know my dad. He wasn’t in the picture. He was a deadbeat,” he said.

“I was a bit of a ratbag (growing up). I’d get into fights at home or on the street (because) I’d blamed the world for me not having what everyone else had.”

For Mr Thompson it was more than money missing – it was a father figure.

At 14 years old, he started skipping school to become a trainee concreter and quit school at the end of Year 10.

He wanted something more and one of his mentors thought he should join the Army.

His bad grades meant he had to go to night school, and he started the enlistment process at age 17. He joined the Army at 18 and moved to Townsville where he joined the 1st Battalion.

“Military life suited me … it gave me structure, discipline, travel opportunity and mateship. The mates I have are brothers.”