Maverick former Newman minister leaves behind a mess

It has long stuck in Labor’s craw that it doesn’t hold more territory along Queensland’s Glitter Strip given it has bankrolled almost all of its modern infrastructure. Now, a shock retirement has presented a golden opportunity, writes Steven Wardill.

I MUST admit I’ve always had a soft spot for Jann Stuckey, who has been forced through illness to retire early from her Gold Coast seat of Currumbin.

Stuckey has never been one to join a conga line for the sake of party unity when she’s had an alternative opinion.

And she’s had plenty of opinions.

Jann Stuckey resigns, Jo-Ann Miller considers tilt at local election

Jann Stuckey is one of the strongest leaders the Gold Coast has ever had and she has been forced to go against the grain

Currumbin MP Jann Stuckey’s awkward question in State Parliament

It has earnt her a reputation as a maverick, and for being a tad eccentric, throughout her 16-year political career.

Sure, she has her foibles and been through her fair share of embarrassing episodes.

Who hasn’t?

There was the time, for example, when she got into a schoolyard slanging match with Federal MP Karen Andrews about whether her Canberra counterpart should be included in an official photo during a student leaders ceremony.

Before that was the occasion when she was urging Queenslanders to holiday at home as the state’s tourism minister before jetting to the Maldives for a family holiday.

And just last year she earned the ire of some of her colleagues when she lamented in a radio interview about being “dragged to Townsville” for a sitting of regional Parliament.

If there’s one thing everyone can agree on about Stuckey’s career, it’s that she certainly did it her way.

But it should not be forgotten that Stuckey wrestled what was a safe seat off Labor at a time when the Liberals didn’t even rank as an official party in State Parliament.

She lost in 2001 but stuck at it and won in 2004, with a massive swing of 17.7 per cent, helped along by the rolling car crash that became Merri Rose’s political career.

Stuckey won Currumbin at the next five elections, an achievement not to be sneezed at given that on paper it should be fertile territory for Labor.

Jan Stuckey has announced her retirement, citing health issues.

She’d planned to retire at the election in October but the black dog of depression has got a grip of her in recent times so she’s decided to exit on February 1.

It’s brave stuff to admit she’s suffering and to prioritise her health. Others have soldiered on.

One final time, the Currumbin maverick hasn’t subscribed to the norm but her message about mental illness cannot be quibbled with.

LNP Leader Deb Frecklington lauded Stuckey’s career and described her decision to go public with the reason behind her early exit as “courageous”.

But there’s no shirking the fact that a by-election in Queensland’s most southern seat shapes as a huge test for Freckington’s leadership and a harbinger of what’s to come in the statewide poll on October 31.

The LNP holds Currumbin by just 3.3 per cent after Labor gradually increased its primary vote at successive elections.

It has long stuck in Labor’s craw that it doesn’t hold more territory along Queensland’s famed Glitter Strip given it has bankrolled almost all of its modern infrastructure.

With that wafer-thin majority and several existing seats in jeopardy, Annastacia Palaszczuk’s team was already planning an assault on Currumbin in October.

They’ll get their opportunity early.

A win in Currumbin would be a massive coup for Palaszczuk after her popularity plummeted in 2019 as the Jackie Trad integrity scandal took a toll on the entire administration.

With Labor’s formidable campaign team and union money, the LNP will have a fight on its hands.

Qld Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and LNP leader Deb Frecklington by Brett Lethbridge. Picture: Supplied

So while a Currumbin by-election will be a test for Palaszczuk, the most telling examination will be of Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington.

Frecklington has not been able to raise her own popularity after deciding bringing down Palaszczuk’s numbers through a negative approach was necessary.

It’s worked with the LNP edging in front in the last Courier-Mail/YouGov poll in August.

But questions remain over whether a leader with such low personal numbers can get people to vote for her.

Also, the conservatives in Queensland are a fractious lot and haven’t gone a term in opposition without a leadership coup or two for a very long time.

While Frecklington shapes as the first to last a term, a loss in Currumbin would be a catalyst for questions about whether she should lead come October given the LNP already faces the difficult task of gaining majority government.

The stakes are also particularly high because Queensland’s first four-year term looms after the next election, meaning there’s a troupe of LNP MPs at risk of spending their entire political careers wallowing in netherworld of Opposition.

The beaches of Currumbin are some of the state’s best but they’re about to be a political battleground and the outcome will reverberate throughout the entire state.