Queensland Election 2017: Where are One Nation’s 1998 election MPs now?

AFTER winning a record 11 seats in the 1998 Queensland election, One Nation collapsed less than 18 months later. But with the party on the rise again, we take a look at what happened to each of the 1998 MPs.

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson. Picture: Gary Ramage

ONE Nation’s 1998 Queensland election performance was its most successful tilt at office in Australia.

But after taking 22.7 per cent of the vote and 11 Queensland seats, including Barambah, Burdekin, Caboolture, Hervey Bay, Ipswich West, Lockyer, Maryborough, Mulgrave, Tablelands, Thuringowa and Whitsunday, the party lasted less than 18 months in Queensland before its MPs resigned to either stand as independents or form rival parties.

Pauline Hanson with One Nation MPs, (L-R) Ken Turner (kneeling), Jack Paff, Jeff Knuth, David Dalgleish, Charles (Charlie) Rappolt (seated), Harry Black, John Kingston, Dorothy Pratt (seated), Bill Feldman, Peter Prenzler (seated) and Shaun Nelson at Queensland State Parliament House in Brisbane in 1998.

But with One Nation polling at around 18 per cent in the upcoming State Election and their preferences about to decide who takes government, we take a look at what happened to the 11 MPs who won seats in 1998.

City Country Alliance leader Bill Feldman after his defeat in Pumicestone in 2001.

BILL FELDMAN: After winning the former seat of Caboolture in 1998, Bill Feldman became Queensland’s One Nation parliamentary leader. This ended in December 1999 when he led the One Nation Queensland revolt and formed the City Country Alliance, becoming the new party’s leader in the process. The seat of Caboolture was replaced by Pumicestone in 2001 and Feldman lost to Labor’s Carryn Sullivan, wife of Jon Sullivan, who Feldman defeated at the 1998 election. Feldman quit politics after losing his seat and returned to working as a police officer, where he represents the Central region in the Queensland Police Union. His son is professional cricket player Luke Feldman.

Jeff Knuth rejoined One Nation in 2014 after a stint with Katter’s Australian Party.

JEFF KNUTH: Jeff Knuth (brother of the Katter Australian Party’s Shane Knuth) won the seat of Burdekin for One Nation in 1998, and was party whip and spokesman for Public Works and Housing before he quit in 1999 to sit as an independent. He initially formed the Country Party Queensland but it quickly dissolved, going on to join fellow One Nation defector Bill Feldman’s City Country Alliance. He lost his seat to Labor in 2001 and contested it again 2004, this time with support from Federal MP Bob Katter, losing the contest but using the power of his preferences to oust Labor’s Steve Rodgers. After his brother Shane won the seat of Charters Towers for the National Party, the pair both joined KAP before Jeff rejoined One Nation in 2014. Jeff and his other brother, Troy Adrian Knuth, formerly part-owners of Roofguard Roof Painting, were found guilty last December in Townsville Magistrates Court of 10 breaches of the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act. The brothers were each fined $9000 and ordered to pay $5258 for charges. Jeff is currently appealing his sentence.

Charles Rappolt was found dead in his New Zealand home in 1999.

CHARLES RAPPOLT: Charles “Charlie” Rappolt resigned as Member for Mulgrave, south of Cairns, some four months after winning at the 1998 election when a domestic violence order by his partner Sandra Higgins went public. Labor’s Warren Pitt (father of current Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt) won the Mulgrave by-election and in the process, gave Labor a majority in Queensland after two hung parliaments. Less than a week after he resigned, Rappolt attempted suicide and was hospitalised. He then unsuccessfully sought $295,000 in damages from the Queensland Government. He moved to New Zealand in 1999 and was found dead at home in Auckland in August of that year.

Dorothy “Dolly” Pratt enjoyed a long career in politics after quitting One Nation in 1999. Picture: Liam Kidston

DOROTHY “DOLLY” PRATT: Dorothy Pratt won the seat of Barambah in 1998 as a member of One Nation before leaving the party to sit as independent when the party imploded in 1999. Barambah was abolished in 2001, replaced by the seat of Nanango, which was first created in 1912 but was replaced by Barambah in 1950. She enjoyed the most post-One Nation political success of any of the 1998 candidates, winning Nanango four times in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009 before retiring from politics before the 2012 election. Current Queensland LNP deputy leader Deb Frecklington succeeded Pratt in 2012.

After leaving One Nation and losing his seat in Hervey Bay in 2011, David Dalgleish stood for the Australian Party.

DAVID DALGLEISH: David Dalgleish won the seat of Hervey Bay in 1998 before defecting to Bill Feldman’s City Country Alliance in 1999. He went on to become the Alliance’s spokesman for Housing and Public Works, Transport and Main Roads and Emergency Services before being defeated by Labor’s Andrew McNamara in 2001. Dalgleish was elected to Fraser Coast Regional Council in 2004 and held the position of deputy mayor before being ousted in 2012. More recently, he unsuccessfully stood for the Australian Party in the Federal seat of Hinkler in 2013 and had another unsuccessful tilt for Fraser Coast Regional Council in 2016. He currently works as a real estate agent.

Jack Paff stood for the Mayor of Ipswich this year, but was unsuccessful.

JACK PAFF: Jack Paff won the seat of Ipswich West in 1998 before joining other One Nation MPs to form the City Country Alliance in 1999. He became the new party’s whip, alongside spokesman for Law, Justice and the Arts, Communication and Information, Local Government and Planning, Regional and Rural Communities, State Development and Trade. He was defeated by Labor in 2001 before an unsuccessful tilt at the job of mayor of the City of Ipswich this year after former mayor Paul Pisasale quit.

Peter Prenzler stood again in 2001 but was defeated by Bill Flynn from his former party.

PAUL PRENZLER: Elected in the seat of Lockyer in 1998, Paul Prenzler became deputy leader of the City Country Alliance when One Nation collapsed in 1999. He also held the positions of the party’s spokesman for Health, Primary Industries, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy, Natural Resources, Environment and Heritage, Fair Trading and Women’s Policy. He stood in 2001 but was defeated by One Nation’s Bill Flynn. Prenzler works as a vet.

John Kingston was forced to quit his seat midterm because of health issues.

JOHN KINGSTON: Vet and former Maryborough City councillor Dr John Kingston won the seat of Maryborough in 1998, but was one of the first to quit when the party experienced troubles in 1999. He stood as an independent in 2001 and was successful, but resigned halfway through his term in 2003 due to poor health.

Shaun Nelson returned to the Navy after he lost to One Nation’s Rosa Lee Long in 2001.

SHAUN NELSON: Nelson was elected in 1998 in the seat of Tablelands, before resigning from the party to sit as an independent in 1999 after the One Nation split. He served out the rest of his term before he was defeated by One Nation’s Rosa Lee Long in 2001. After politics, he returned to his job in the Royal Australian Navy.

Ken Turner had another tilt of his old seat of Thuringowa in 2009, but was unsuccessful.

KEN TURNER: After winning Thuringowa in 1998, he was appointed One Nation’s spokesman for Communication, Local Government, Planning, Regional and Rural Communities, Environment, Heritage and Natural Resources, and Primary Industries. He quit with Pratt and Nelson to become an independent in 1999. He lost his seat to Labor’s Anita Phillips in 2001. He stood again for Thuringowa in 2009 but received only 11 per cent of the vote.

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Originally published as Queensland Election 2017: Where are One Nation’s 1998 election MPs now?