Inside story: how Labor blew its chances to get another Gold Coast seat

Election count results show how the ALP were in with a great chance of winning Coomera – but blew it completely. Here’s why they only have themselves to blame.

• Inside analysis on each Gold Coast seat
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LABOR has blown its best chance to grab a second seat on the Gold Coast.

Results on the count show how the ALP could have won Coomera. The party only has itself to blame.

Coomera LNP MP Michael Crandon has 51.37 per cent of the vote. His Labor rival, Chris Johnson, is on 48.63 per cent as the count continues.

Candidates Michael Crandon, LNP, Chris Johnson, Labor, Darryl Prout, Animal Justice Party.

No one regularly presents more petitions in the Parliament from residents asking for more facilities than Mr Crandon. He is a hard-working backbencher, entrenched in the community. Yet he finds himself only 900 votes ahead. This is because Coomera should be a Labor seat.

Mr Johnson, despite repeated calls from the Bulletin, did not attend the forum for candidates. Don’t blame him. If Labor campaign leaders wanted him there, they would have turned on his laptop.

This is not an isolated case. Some Labor candidates were shielded from the media. In Coomera it hurt Mr Johnson’s vote and the party.

The Bulletin sent questions to all candidates and Labor’s responses were provided by Gaven MP Meaghan Scanlon, which simplified the process. It made sense but Mr Johnson again missed a chance to promote himself.

A political strategist told us: “Maybe those 1000 votes which he (Mr Johnson) needed to win sit in the mainstream media. There is no ID for some of these people standing for office.

Coomera MP Michael Crandon talking to students at a northern Gold Coast school.

“I reckon if you did a vox pop, took him through the shops at Westfield Coomera and ask if he was on the red team or the blue team, no one would know him.”

When Coomera Westfield opened, Michael Crandon was so busy walking to each shop and being approached by owners, it seemed wrong to interrupt him.

This explains why his primary vote improved slightly, about 40 per cent, when his party went backwards. But will the “Crando” factor be enough in four years time?

“Since February this year I sent 7004 ‘welcome to the electorate’ letters out. So these are people who became voters in my electorate from February through October,” Mr Crandon said.

Many were sent to two people living in the one household.

“So the reality is it was in the order of 10,000 people, new electors, came in. Now obviously there are people going out as well,” he said.

“My total voter count is 45,715. That’s more than 25 per cent above the average. Fastest growing region in Queensland. Massive need for infrastructure. Let down by (Transport Minister Mark) Bailey.

“The centre of that growth is Pimpama.

“Exit 49 on the M1, where you and I stood on that day all of those years ago (in 2018 to talk about traffic), is still not destined to be constructed until 2023 at the earliest.”

2018 — Michael Crandon discusses traffic congestion with The Bulletin around Pimpama.

Labor put some work in on the ground in Coomera but never had great expectations.

“A lot of the One Nation vote has gone to Labor. We sort of expected a lot of their vote would go to the LNP. We were very concerned about that,” a senior Labor source said.

The ALP will target the newer suburbs next time with their aspirational voters.

“Our voters are up north. With all the growth happening up there, we are positioned well. We think there is more opportunity in the future,” the Labor source said.

Next time around the party must present its candidate in all forums if it is to win the seat.

Follow @PaulWestonGC