Gold Coast Election 2020: Full list of ‘ghost candidates’ running for Glitter Strip seats
They want your vote – but they’ve dodged Bulletin questions, been absent at the booths and some don’t even have a Facebook page. SEE THE FULL LIST OF GHOST CANDIDATES
Gold Coast
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MORE than a quarter of the people who have nominated to run in Gold Coast seats for the state poll are “ghost candidates”, refusing to answer questions about the election.
Before the ballot draw, the Bulletin began emailing a series of questions to candidates on hot topics in their electorates.
The questions covered issues such as the offshore cruise ship terminal, cableway, upgrade timetables for the Coomera Connector build and the number of police for their suburbs.
Twenty-seven candidates declined to answer the questions or, in some cases, chose to only answer those they wished. Major political parties put out general responses.
Some MPs are furious about the minor party candidates and independents, given some will not have doorknocked the electorate or engaged in any campaigning yet stand to qualify for public funding if they receive 6 per cent of the formal first preference vote.
The amount of funding available for any candidate is calculated by multiplying the number of first preference votes by the election funding amount, currently $3.14 per vote for registered political parties and $1.57 per vote for candidates.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has estimated the public funding to parties and candidates will increase by $23 million for this poll.
Some candidates such as Tory Jones in Mermaid Beach would only provide answers to questions that interested her.
Ms Jones only responded to questions on the Oceanway, World Surfing Reserve and hooning, and ignored questions about Gold Coast sports clubs and police numbers.
She did not respond to further rounds of questions.
Several One Nation candidates were not even mentioned on the party’s website and did not have social media pages, despite being listed on the ballot.
Labor’s Meaghan Scanlon responded to the Bulletin’s questions on behalf of the party’s Gold Coast candidates, as did the Greens’ John Woodlock, running in Theodore.
In its final round of questions, the Bulletin asked how candidates who did not use social media, did not attend voting booths and did not have any volunteers could expect to represent their constituents.
The Animal Justice Party’s Burleigh candidate Scott Wallace said: “When you are passionate, hold a clear vision and truly believe in what you are standing up for it’s very hard to sit back, stay hidden and quiet.
“If you don’t embody what you are claiming to represent, then there is no integrity.”
He added he had been preparing and campaigning for months in the lead-up to the election period.
In Gaven, LNP candidate Kirsten Jackson during a Bulletin forum explained how she knew which was the number one issue in the electorate.
“I have doorknocked 8500 homes personally in Gaven. And the number one issue is hooning,” she said.
The full list of “ghost candidates” is as follows:
REVEALED: GOLD COAST GHOST CANDIDATES
COOMERA
Tabita Wilkinson (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Did not respond to questions. Despite being sent information days in advance, she declined to attend a Bulletin candidates’ debate and claimed she had received no info.
BROADWATER
Jesse Schneider (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Does not have information page on One Nation’s website or an email address to be contacted.
Mara Krischker (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Did not respond to questions.
Natalie O’Donnell Informed Medical Options Party (IMOP)
- Did not respond to questions.
BONNEY
Michael Rix (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Does not have information page on One Nation’s website or an email address to be contacted.
THEODORE
Anita Holland (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Does not have information page on One Nation’s website or an email address to be contacted.
Robert Marks (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Did not respond to questions.
GAVEN
Suzette Luyken (Legalise Cannabis Qld Party)
- Did not respond to questions.
Garry Beck (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Did not respond to questions.
CURRUMBIN
Tracy Takacs-Thorne (Independent)
- Confirmed receiving first round of questions, but did not provide answers. She did not respond to following rounds.
Anna Palmer (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Did not respond to questions.
MUDGEERABA
Brandon McMahon, (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Missed the deadline for the first round of questions and asked to be included in the following rounds. Did not respond when sent further questions.
Andrew Liddell (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Did not respond to questions.
Lindon Cox (Animal Justice Party)
- Did not respond to questions.
BURLEIGH
Georgie Batty (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Ingrid Weber (Legalise Cannabis Qld Party)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Carlo Filingeri (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Candidate did not respond to questions. His page on the party website does not include a photo and he does not have a social media page.
MERMAID BEACH
Hristo Avdjiev (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Suphakan Somsriruen (Civil Liberties & Motorists Party)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Stephen James (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Tory Jones (Independent)
- Candidate responded only to questions on the Oceanway, World Surfing Reserve and hooning. She did not answer questions about Gold Coast sports clubs and police numbers, and did not respond to following rounds of questions.
SURFERS PARADISE
Leeanne Schultz (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Candidate does not have information page on One Nation’s website or an email address to be contacted.
Roger Mckay (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
SOUTHPORT
Raphael Felix (Pauline Hanson’s One Nation)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Brett Lambert (Independent)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Jack Drake (Civil Liberties & Motorists Party)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
Maria Avdjieva (Clive Palmer’s UAP)
- Candidate did not respond to questions.
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