Currumbin by-election: Labor’s Kaylee Campradt concedes defeat to LNP’s Laura Gerber

The defeated Labor candidate in the Currumbin by-election has singled out her own party’s insistence on the vote taking place amid tight social distancing measures and public fear over Covid-19 as one of the reasons for her loss.

The LNP's Laura Gerber has held the seat of Currumbin for the party after Jann Stuckey’s retirement. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

LABOR’S defeated Currumbin by-election candidate says the decision to force people to vote amid the coronavirus crisis and ‘confusion’ over the border closure contributed to her loss.

Kaylee Campradt today conceded the key marginal southern Gold Coast seat to her LNP opponent, Laura Gerber.

Ms Campradt said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s controversial decision to push ahead with the local government elections and Currumbin and Bundamba by-elections ‘did not work in our favour’.

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She said the Premier’s decision to close the Queensland-NSW border also left Currumbin residents living near the state line confused.

“A big chunk of the electorate was left thinking ‘what on earth? (is happening)’,” she said.

“There were no answers for a significant amount of time. I don’t think that was helpful.

“There will be plenty of digesting and analysing after this is all finished.”

But Ms Campradt said she did not believe the elections could have been postponed and Ms Palaszczuk has made ‘the right call’ to proceed based on the advice of Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young.

“We knew we had a mountain to climb and we left nothing to chance,” she said.

“We still achieved a swing towards us which is almost unheard of for a government, but it wasn’t enough unfortunately.”

Labor Currumbin candidate Kaylee Campradt. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

The latest Electoral Commission of Queensland figures online show the LNP’s Laura Gerber ahead with 43.85 per cent of the primary vote.

Ms Campradt is trailing on 38.51 per cent.

“I’m a bit devastated, we nearly got there, it’s a really, really close result,” she said.

“I am conceding, I can’t get in front now.”

But Ms Campradt said she wasn’t going anywhere and would be running as Labor’s candidate at the October State Election this year.

Ms Gerber said she would get straight to work on Wednesday.

“I would like to thank the people of Currumbin for backing the LNP’s plan to fix the M1, create more local jobs and get tough on crime,” she said.

“I am looking forward to joining Deb Frecklington’s team because the coronavirus means more than ever Queensland needs a government that can build a strong economy to create and protect local jobs.”

The by-election was prompted after LNP stalwart Jann Stuckey retired earlier this year, citing ill-health.

She later issued a scathing rebuke to her own party, claiming the LNP operated in a “cone of silence”, and that she felt sorry for Ms Gerber.

Ms Stuckey told The Courier-Mail on Tuesday that she had passed on her congratulations to Ms Gerber.

Labor State Secretary Julie-Ann Campbell said: “What is clear from this result is that Deb Frecklington’s leadership has led to an extraordinary and unprecedented swing against the LNP in a by-election.”