Young LNP gun shapes up to target Health Minister’s seat

A young South East Queensland councillor has joined LNP ranks to take on Health Minister Shannon Fentiman in the state election in the seat of Waterford.

Logan City Councillor Jacob Heremaia will contest the seat of Waterford, heading up against Health Minister Shannon Fentiman. Picture supplied

A Logan City councillor has joined LNP ranks to take on Health Minister Shannon Fentiman in the state election in the seat of Waterford.

Jacob Heremaia was elected as the state’s youngest councillor in 2020 at just 20 years of age and is the eighth LNP candidate with a local government background who will attempt to make the switch to state parliament in October.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli will announce Mr Heremaia as the LNP’s newest candidate on Sunday, after launching two female candidates for Katter’s Australian Party stronghold electorates Traeger and Hinchinbrook.

With ambulance ramping in Logan sitting at 64 per cent, Mr Heremaia said Ms Fentiman’s time was up.

“Shannon Fentiman has run Queensland Health into the ground and our community are paying a high price, it cannot go on,” he said.

Mr Crisafulli acknowledged the LNP needed to put forward a strong candidate to run against Ms Fentiman, who currently holds the seat of Waterford with a solid 16 per cent margin, but said he was confident in Mr Heremaia’s community ties.

“As a former chair of Logan’s Procurement and Appropriations Special Committee, Jacob knows Queenslanders’ hard-earned money must be treated with respect and he understands the challenges faced by local government and by Queenslanders,” he said.

“As the local councillor, Jacob has a proven record fighting for what his community needs and he’s committed to delivering the change the Waterford community are calling for.”