Pauline Hanson and Troy Thompson aren’t happy with the State Government
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and candidate for Thuringowa Troy Thompson have slammed the State Government and Aaron Harper in a passionate attack.
Townsville
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One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and candidate for Thuringowa Troy Thompson have slammed the State Government and Aaron Harper in a passionate attack.
The pair addressed media in Townsville on Saturday morning, with Ms Hanson in town to endorse Mr Thompson as her candidate for the local seat.
“You’ve got a Thompson federally, vote for a Thompson in the state,” Ms Hanson said.
“I’m very confident with Troy. He’s got a background in IT and he’s really focused on the community.”
Ms Hanson said the key issue in the seat was youth crime and backed her man to bring about change.
“They’re (juveniles) not being charged, the courts are releasing them and the police are doing everything they possibly can to address this issue.
“This hasn’t just happened overnight, it was brought to my attention four years ago when I came up.
“The community is screaming out and they want something done about it.
“The State Government has done nothing about it, the local government has done nothing about it.
“Just recently you had the car accident, four kids were killed in that. I think it’s disgraceful.
“They just turn up to the courts, they know (what the outcome will be) and they’re out again committing crimes.”
Ms Hanson said she is approached by former Townsville residents around the state to talk about the city’s crime, with all of them delivering the same message.
“They’ve had a gutful. They want someone who is going to be tougher on crime and this is going to be One Nation. It’s going to be Troy.”
Mr Thompson, who wrote the constitution for group One Community, One Standard, accused the State Government of being soft.
“I believe if you’re going to do the crime, you do the time,” Mr Thompson said.
“The programs that I’ve developed are around prevention, detention and rehabilitation.
“The court system is catch and release, something that should be in the fishing industry.
“This soft touch State Government is just not getting the job done.
“These kids need help, they’re going back to broken homes so we’ve got to fix that problem as well.”
The former CEO said when people Google Townsville and Thuringowa the first thing that comes up is crime.
He said it had to change for the region to attract visitors.
“For tourists to come here we have got to get on top of crime now,” he said.“If we stop that we can start building on our tourism industry.
“I’m going to hold our government, local, state and federal, to account.”
Mr Thompson also took aim at current Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper and said he’s the man to knock him out of government.
“I’m strong enough to push forward. I think Aaron is quite weak in his policy.
“You’ve got to have somebody who’s run a business, who understands business very well. I don’t think Aaron is that person.”
Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper responded to criticism by One Nation taking aim at Labor policy on youth crime, labelling it as hypocritical of a minor party that’s not in power.
Successfully holding the seat since 2015, Mr Harper said wouldn’t respond to personal attacks.
“It’s part of the rough and tumble of politics but this is below the belt stuff (comments by One Nation),” Mr Harper said.
“That’s not my style of gutter politics but it’s very easy for minor parties to come up and say things like (Pauline) Hanson has but not actually delivering.
“I’d say it’s very hypocritical of other parties including One Nation and the LNP who all opposed our laws which was to put community safety as a priority.”
Mr Harper said his focus for Thuringowa was paving an immediate path out job losses caused by COVID-19.
“My focus right now is entirely on working on a team ensuring health response and economic recovery is an absolute priority,” he said.
“Getting those local jobs with shovel ready projects is the priority right now.”
The electorate was one of eleven State seats held by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party from 1998, until it was returned to Labor in a 2001 landslide.
Originally published as Pauline Hanson and Troy Thompson aren’t happy with the State Government