Doctor considers bid for Queensland Liberal seat of Fadden

Quadriplegic doctor and former Queenslander of the Year Dinesh Palipana is considering nominating for preselection to replace ­retiring Liberal ­Stuart Robert.

Doctor and disability advocate Dinesh Palipana might put his hand up for preselection. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Quadriplegic doctor and former Queenslander of the Year Dinesh Palipana is considering nominating for preselection to replace ­retiring Liberal frontbencher ­Stuart Robert.

The Liberal National Party at the weekend opened nominations in the Gold Coast seat of Fadden, which will go to a by-election following the resignation of Mr Robert.

Dr Palipana, Queensland’s first quadriplegic medical graduate, works as an emergency doctor at the Gold Coast University Hospital and is understood to be seriously considering contesting the safe LNP seat.

The 38-year-old’s work as a disability advocate has earned him multiple gongs, including a Medal of the Order of Australia, and he has been described by Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk as “a truly inspiring person”. He was halfway through his medical degree when he suffered a spinal cord injury in a car accident in 2010.

Dr Palipana is vice-chair of the Southport LNP branch, which sits just outside the Fadden electorate, but lives at Hope Island, inside the seat’s boundaries.

“Dinesh is a high-profile guy with an incredibly inspiring story, he is exactly the kind of candidate the party should be going for,” one party source said.

“He is a bit of an unknown and his support hasn’t been tested, but he is a really high-calibre candidate.”

LNP sources said businesswoman Fran Ward was also planning to run, along with Gold Coast councillor Cameron Caldwell.

Ms Ward, understood to have the backing of Mr Robert, has previously lost preselections in Liberal seats of Bowman and Moncrieff, but she has been active in Fadden for at least a decade and serves as its branch chair.

Mr Caldwell was disendorsed by the LNP before the 2012 state election after attending a pirate-themed swingers party, but has gone on to win successive local elections in the area. Multiple party sources say he has strong local support.

Former Queensland senator Amanda Stoker, who lost her seat at last year’s federal election, and Gold Coast-based state MP Sam O’Connor have both ruled themselves out for preselection.

Mr O’Connor said he had been “humbled by the people who reached out to encourage me to put my hand up”.

“But I’ve decided now is not the time for me to leave state politics,” he said in a statement.

Peter Dutton told the party’s Queensland division that he wanted a strong local candidate to replace Mr Robert.

“We should be in that seat, frankly, preselecting somebody who can be a future cabinet minister or a leader of our party,” the Opposition Leader said at the weekend.

“So, we will work hard with the LNP in Queensland to make sure that we do win.”

Mr Robert retained Fadden on a 10.63 per cent margin at the last federal election despite strong statewide swing against the LNP.