Queensland election: Labor’s last-ditch effort to retain century-long grip on Rockhampton

Steven Miles has jetted back to the central Queensland city of Rockhampton to sandbag the Labor heartland seat with a $50m hospital expansion announcement.

Premier Steven Miles visits children at the C&K Glenmore Community Kindergarten in Rockhampton. Picture: Adam Head

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Steven Miles has jetted back to the central Queensland city of Rockhampton in a last-ditch push to sandbag the Labor heartland seat with a $50m hospital expansion announcement.

Rockhampton has been in ALP hands since the 1920s but is now under serious threat from former long-serving Labor mayor-turned-independent Margaret Strelow.

At the 2017 election, Ms Strelow was then-premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s captain’s pick to run for Labor, but was rejected by the local branch in a bitter preselection stoush.

She secured a healthy 23.5 per cent of the primary vote – eclipsing the Liberal National Party to come second before preferences were distributed – at the 2017 election behind Labor’s Barry O’Rourke.

Ms Strelow is running for state parliament again at the October 26 poll, after serving as Rockhampton mayor in two stints across 16 years. She has chosen to preference the LNP and One Nation above Labor.

Independent candidate for Rockhampton Margaret Strelow outside Rockhampton Police Station. Picture: Aden Stokes

The independent toldThe Australianthere was a mood for change in Rockhampton and locals felt neglected by the Labor government.

“Our hospital is one of the worst in the state on several measures … the schools don’t work and the Bruce Highway is broken,” Ms Strelow said.

“This should be the Labor government’s bread and butter.”

Mr Miles spent Tuesday in the beef capital, pledging $50m to upgrade the hospital’s emergency department, but was unable to say how many extra beds would be created or how many new doctors and nurses would be hired.

“Staff at Rockhampton Hospital work exceptionally hard to keep the community healthy and well and they need an upgraded emergency department to do keep doing that,” he said.

“Today I am putting $50m on the table, so work can get underway immediately once the master planning identifies exactly what this growing community needs.”

Former long-serving ALP MP and party powerbroker Robert Schwarten is quietly confident Labor’s Craig Marshall will be able to win the seat.

“If we lost, it would break tradition, and I’m not seeing the anger that I saw in 2012, and that was over railway privatisation, and the unions were against us,” Mr Schwarten told The Australian.

He retired in 2012 and, despite an enormous swing against Labor, his ALP successor Bill Byrne held the seat.

Mr Schwarten and Mr Byrne and are now backing opposing candidates at next month’s election: Ms Strelow and Mr Marshall, respectively.

Mr Byrne confirmed he was backing Ms Strelow, because of their personal friendship and her integrity, and predicted she would “win convincingly”.

Mr Schwarten said he had lived in Rockhampton all his life, and had never seen more government money spent in the seat, despite campaigns run by sitting federal LNP members claiming the city was neglected.

“I’m not a tactician, I’m divorced from the campaign, but I’m quietly confident that we can hold this against all the things we’ve got flying against us,” he said.

LNP candidate Donna Kirkland and Opposition Leader David Crisafulli in Rockhampton. Picture: Liam Kidston

The LNP’s candidate Donna Kirkland, who fronted a trainwreck press conference in Rockhampton last week where she refused to be drawn on her views about abortion, is preferencing Ms Strelow third, behind the One Nation candidate.

Speaking to The Australian outside Parkhurst Town Centre, retired cafe worker Lynette – who did not wish to give her last name – said she had voted Labor all her life but was unsure how she would vote at this election.

She said she was “tied up” about how she would vote, believing Labor had been in for too long, citing health reform and crime as her top concerns.

“I’m born and bred Labor and I didn’t mind Annastacia (Palaszczuk), she was pretty good … Steven Miles is no match, though he does have some good ideas,” the pensioner said.

“Margaret (Strelow) has a pretty good chance I think, except she is giving her preferences to the LNP lady (Kirkland) and she is too involved in the church.”