Queensland state election 2024: Hervey Bay, Maryborough votes
An exit poll on Maryborough revealed a healthy lead for incumbent Labor MP Bruce Saunders, as the polls prepare to close and we bring you the latest on the state election across the Fraser Coast. Follow our free coverage including early exit polls and tonight’s numbers as they come in. VIDEOS, PHOTOS
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The Fraser Coast state seats of Maryborough and Hervey Bay are set to be split between the two major parties, after an exit poll in Maryborough revealed a healthy lead for incumbent Labor MP Bruce Saunders.
The poll of 50 Maryborough voters as they exited St Paul’s Anglican Cathedral on Adelaide St, had Mr Saunders as their preferred member with 44 percent of the vote.
LNP candidate John Barounis trailed Mr Saunders on 28 percent, while Laura Granger Brown of the Greens polled 16 percent and Taryn Gillard rounded out the voting with 12 percent.
No votes had been cast for either independent candidate or Family First’s Kerry Petrus.
The main issues coming out of the area were homelessness, youth crime and cost of living.
George Blair, a man whose family has lived in Maryborough for more than half a century, was disappointed with the two major parties’ election campaigns, ultimately swaying his vote to the minor parties.
“The campaign was pretty poor for me, from both major parties,” he said.
“Compared to many years ago, it didn’t entice me and it didn’t interest me.
“I vote for the minor parties because they’ve got more of a concern around our human rights and our social needs.”
John Barounis, LNP candidate for Maryborough, was at St Paul’s Anglican Church in the morning with LNP Federal Member for Wide Bay Llew O’Brien, as was One Nation’s Taryn Gillard and Mr Saunders, who was photographed casting his vote.
In Hervey Bay, the scenes were much quieter compared to central Maryborough, as it is believed that more than 55 percent of Hervey Bay residents voted before election day.
Both candidates for the major parties were still doing the rounds at polling booths with only hours left on the clock until the count begins.
Incumbent Hervey Bay Labor MP Adrian Tantari voted at Urangan Point State School, where he stated he was feeling “confident” with how the campaign was going.
“I’ve been around to a number of the polling booths today and people have been really supportive of the work I’ve done in my first term over the last four years,” he said.
In terms of what’s next, Mr Tantari mapped out his next steps in office.
“I’ve been able to secure a GP urgent care clinic from the federal government for Hervey Bay,” he said.
“Also, a satellite hospital will be delivered into the Fraser Coast, which is vitally important as well.”
In terms of housing, Mr Tantari confessed there was still work to be done in Hervey Bay, while also mentioning some good news for those in need of a home.
“I’ve got at least 32 affordable houses being built at Wondunna,” he said.
“I’ve got a 10-unit complex in Torquay plus a 40-bed youth foyer ready to be developed for Hervey Bay.
“We know we need to do more in the housing area.”
LNP candidate for Hervey Bay David Lee was spotted at Torquay State School about midday on the home stretch of a “gruelling campaign”.
“We’ve come into this as the underdog,” Mr Lee said.
“We’ve come into this campaign having to fight for every dollar we can possibly raise.
“The two biggest issues that have been raised with me during the campaign has been the need for youth crime reform and reform to our broken healthcare system.”
Mr Lee highlighted the need to plan for infrastructure in Hervey Bay as one of his other main issues that he would take to parliament with him.
“The facts are we’re a rapidly growing population and we have high rates of chronic disease,” he said.
“It’s really important to plan our infrastructure over the next 25 years.
“That’s things like an integrated transport strategy, plans for healthcare, plans for our education system.”
Voting booths are open until 6pm and can be found at these locations in Maryborough and Hervey Bay.
Surprise sign at business linked to ex-Labor staffer, councillor
The placement of a placard warning not to “risk” four more years of Labor and listing what the state opposition says are Labor’s failings got local tongues wagging when it emerged on the prominent fence of the Magnolia Village Caravan Park.
The park is owned by Ben Souvlis, the nephew of the late iconic businessman Con Souvlis and soon-to-be husband of Fraser Coast Councillor Sara Faraj who won Mr Lee’s Division 9 spot in the March election after he announced he would be running for state instead.
The councillor had previously worked with Mr Tantari both on his campaign and in his Hervey Bay electorate office early in his term but it’s understood she and the MP parted on bad terms.
The anti-Labor sign featuring Premier Steven Miles and Mr Tantari, which sits alongside Vote 1 David Lee corflutes, has also since been defaced and sprayed with obscenities including the word “c***head” by unknown vandals who also showed their anger towards the party with a penis drawing.
Ms Faraj publically shared the happy news of engagement to Mr Souvlis, which took place during a recent Fiji holiday, on social media.
Asked if she no longer supported Labor and/or was supporting David Lee at this election, Ms Faraj told the Chronicle she remained bi-partisan in her role as councillor and that the couple “haven’t publicly put our support behind anyone - we were just asked if we could have the sign on there”.
Fraser Coast heads to the polls
The stage is set for the Fraser Coast to be split between the two major parties with the LNP’s David Lee on the path to victory in Hervey Bay and Maryborough’s Labor MP Bruce Saunders tipped to be among the few red regional faces to keep his seat.
Team Lee has had to lead the LNP’s reset after an 11 per cent swing to Labor in 2020, the largest in the state, in the wake of a double whammy for the LNP – the retirement of four-term MP Ted Sorensen and support from an over 55s dominated population for the then Palaszczuk Government’s Covid response.
However, early indications are that the seat is likely to return to its blue status in line with state momentum and amid widespread frustration over the first-term MP’s perceived lack of presence in the public space prior to the election campaign.
Tantari, who had previously, notoriously dodged media requests and made few announcements in four years, did recently attend a tightly controlled candidate’s forum where he insisted he’d been working “methodically” to ensure the people of Hervey Bay benefited from lower unemployment rates and a strong economic recovery, pointing to major construction at the hospital, schools, roads and investment in more doctors, nurses and police along with new business grants.
Lee, a lawyer who already has a public profile thanks to his former role as a Fraser Coast councillor, has seized on the Tantari “phantom” hype with his campaign motto “visible, vocal, active” along with relentless social media clips pointing out that while many Bay sites are surrounded by Queensland Government branded construction fencing, no work has actually started (even this week, the only sign of activity on the Main St block earmarked for a new fire station was a fresh mow).
Sentiment towards the Hervey Bay MP however largely remains in stark contrast to that in the neighbouring Maryborough electorate where incumbent MP Saunders is still the favourite ahead of the LNP’s John Barounis,
While Saunders’ electorate technically takes in the outskirts of Hervey Bay and seaside towns to the west including Dundowran Beach, Craignish and Burrum Heads, his focus and largest fan base remains south of Susan River where he has been seen as the spearhead for the revival of Maryborough’s manufacturing industry.
Since the former ice-cream shop owner with strong union ties (the biggest bugbear with local conservatives) won the seat in 2015 he has earned a bullish reputation for advocacy in line with his “putting the Maryborough electorate first” mantra which Labor insiders say has often been at the expense of popularity within his own party.
Prior to his three-term stint, the LNP briefly held Maryborough via Newman-era MP Anne Madden who succeeded three-term Independent MP Chris Foley, but the closest call Saunders had was from One Nation (which once had a sitting MP in Maryborough during the early Pauline Hanson years) in 2017 when former Fraser Coast councillor and Bauple dairy farmer James Hansen drew 30.36 per cent of the vote compared to Saunders’ 45.18 per cent.
His biggest test though is yet to come as, in the absence of an upset (he improved with 53.3 per cent of the vote in 2020 ahead of Fraser Coast councillor Denis Chapman for the LNP with 26.3 per cent) he will face his first term in opposition
Rolling results will be available here on Saturday evening and in the Courier Mail’s live election blog.
In the meantime, voters still to cast their ballot can do so at the following booths.
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Originally published as Queensland state election 2024: Hervey Bay, Maryborough votes
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