Labor MP puts Palmer’s man ahead of LNP

Labor has preferenced Clive Palmer’s candidate above the Liberal National Party in the ultra-marginal Townsville seat of Herbert.

Herbert Labor Mp Cathy O'Toole. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Labor incumbent Cathy O'Toole has preferenced Clive Palmer’s candidate above the Liberal National­ Party in a desperate bid to hold onto the ultra-marginal Townsville seat of Herbert.

The Labor Party has been critic­al of the Coalition’s preference deal with the United Aust­ralia Party, led by Mr Palmer, who despite being a self-proclaimed billionaire left it to taxpayers to pay $70 million to cover his ­employees’ entitlements when his Townsville-based Queensland Nickel refinery collapsed in 2016, costing about 800 local jobs.

But Ms O’Toole’s how-to-vote cards list UAP candidate Greg Dowling fourth, above sixth-placed LNP candidate Philip Thompson.

Labor has preferenced the UAP above the LNP in many Queensland seats, including Dawson, south of Herbert, and the southeast Queensland marginal seats of Dickson and Brisbane.

The flow of preferences is expecte­d to decide the outcome in the north Queensland seat, which Ms O’Toole won by 37 votes in 2016 after a strong showing by One Nation, which took 13.5 per cent of the vote that year.

One Nation preferences favoured Labor in 2016, gifting Ms O’Toole the seat.

Herbert is a hotbed for minor parties, with a Newspoll last month showing the minors shared a combined 40 per cent of the vote, with the LNP and Labor on 31 and 29 per cent respectively.

But Katter’s Australian Party candidate Nanette Radeck believes the UAP’s decision to preference the Coalition could negate the impact of other minor parties and give Mr Thompson victory.

Pre-polling booths in Townsville have been busy, with about 10,000 people already casting their votes.

One Nation has scaled back its 2016 effort to win the seat, with its candidate, jillaroo Amy Lohse, living­ more than 1000km away in Biggenden, which is 340km northwest of Brisbane, and hardly sighted during­ the campaign.

Such is the nature of the contest in Herbert that candidates appear more focused on how-to-vote cards, and wary of the complex flow of preferences once ballots are counted, than their counterparts elsewhere. Mr Palmer’s role, and the low-key campaign of One Nation, may prove crucial.

Mr Thompson said Ms O’Toole was “extremely hypo­crit­ical” for criticising the LNP’s deal with Mr Palmer when she herself had put Mr Dowling ahead of the LNP on how-to-vote cards.

“(Ms O’Toole) gets very upset and ­outraged around preferences but I’m looking for a number one next to my name,” Mr Thompson said.

“She’s the one bringing up everything else but she’s put others­ ahead of the LNP, including the UAP. I’d like to put everyone else last, but you can’t.”

Ms O’Toole did not respond to questions from The Australian and did not participate in a Sky News debate held in Townsville yesterday. Only Mr Thompson and Ms Radeck took part.

With a likely shift in support among the minor parties, Bob Katter­, the member for the adjoining seat of Kennedy, said he expected­ KAP to fare better in Herbert than it did at the 2016 poll.

Ms Radeck told The Australian the preference deal between the UAP and LNP had hurt her chance­s but she believed the battle for Herbert was still wide open.

“I believe it is still a race,” she said yesterday. “But I think what the leader of the UAP did by preferencing the LNP did hurt us in terms of preference flow.

“You never know until election day. I believe about 30 per cent follow­ how-to-vote cards, but people­ are becoming wiser to those things.”

KAP has a split how-to-vote card, with one side of the card ranking Labor fourth below One Nation and UAP, and the other side instead listing the LNP fourth.