Queensland election 2024: Southern Downs MP James Lister reveals plans after winning third term

Southern Downs MP James Lister has weighed in on his election victory at the weekend, and said being an MP was a job he truly loved. Here’s the latest post-election.

Queensland LNP Members and candidates for the October 26, 2024 election - James Lister LNP member for Southern Downs

No stranger to the challenge of rural campaigning, James Lister has retained his safe LNP seat of the Southern Downs at the 2024 Queensland election.

However, his third-term victory was a bit different to his previous bouts for the top representative job, as his wife was heavily pregnant.

“I want to thank my wife Belinda, who is expecting our fourth child in two weeks, and my kids Jeremy, 13, William, 10, and Amelia, 2, for their love and support even though I am away from home most of the time,” Mr Lister said.

James Lister with his mobile office, which can regularly be seen across the region. (Photo: Supplied)

Southern Down residents are likely well aware of Mr Lister’s quirky and convenient mobile office in which the MP uses to travel across the electorate and chat to locals.

“There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of travelling around, meeting and representing the people and communities here,” he said.

“I’m currently on a three-day visit to Inglewood, Goondiwindi and Texas with my trusty mobile office, and I always look forward to chatting with constituents, hearing their concerns, and having a beer with local characters in the pub at the end of the day.”

Mr Lister said he was “very grateful to be elected for another term” and he loved his job as an MP, despite a rewarding career pre-politics in the military.

While he won’t speak on the LNP’s blue wave across Queensland, Mr Lister will admit he’s proud to know what the region wants and needs.

“All I can say is that I have worked hard and done my very best as our local MP over the past seven years. My local team of volunteers and I ran an honest and positive campaign focused on the concerns expressed to me by the people of our electorate,” Mr Lister said.

“These included the state of housing, crime, our roads and the health system.

“I also emphasised during the election campaign that the biggest part of a country MP’s job is also the least conspicuous.

“Giving Anzac Day speeches, presenting certificates to school kids, and raising hell in parliament about vegan farm invaders, water security and government inaction on crime gets plenty of attention and pats on the back, but I’m proud of the fact that I’ve always concentrated on providing assistance and advocacy for the people and community groups who come to me seeking help.”

State member James Lister with his son Jeremy at the 2021 Stanthorpe Australia Day festivities. (Photo: File)

Mr Lister said the best part of his job was knowing he was helping residents, and he was excited to continue into his third term.

“Fighting for the little guy takes a lot of time and a lot of travel around the communities of our large electorate. But for the people involved, it is often the most important thing facing them in their lives,” he said.

“Like seeking a review and prioritisation for somebody waiting for a knee replacement or social housing. Like fighting back against an unjust or arbitrary government decision about a farmer’s water licence or the assistance given to a small kindergarten. Like getting the speed limit reduced near a small primary school or extra officers for a town’s police station.

“I experience much personal satisfaction when I achieve a win for local people, and it is always lovely to come across someone who shakes my hand and says ‘thanks mate, you helped my dad’.”

Perhaps the LNP’s main campaign focus was the adult crime, adult time laws. Eyes will be on Goondiwindi, in Mr Lister’s electorate, to see if the crime crisis worsens on the border community.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA – NewsWire Photos – MARCH 25, 2021. Queensland Member for Southern Downs James Lister speaks in Parliament House in Brisbane. Mr Lister has taken a mental health leave. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

“The new LNP state government will, as a matter of immediate urgency, introduce new laws to provide proper consequences for offenders and also to remove elements of the youth justice act which prevent magistrates from locking up recidivist offenders,” Mr Lister said.

“This is especially important for Goondiwindi. I know that people say that locking them up isn’t the answer, but it’s a hell of a lot better answer than the alternative of letting them out to continue to invade homes and motels, steal cars and assault innocent people every single night.

“The simple fact is that the rights of good law-abiding citizens to live in safety and security are superior to the right of offenders to be out at large, and after ten years of Labor going soft on youth crime, that’s just the way it is now.

“We’ll also get serious about decisive early intervention, rehabilitation and support, although it may take years for this to start bearing fruit.”

Originally published as Queensland election 2024: Southern Downs MP James Lister reveals plans after winning third term