Labor wins Liberal party’s stronghold of Hervey Bay
Labor’s newly-elected MP in Hervey Bay faced a bruising preselection battle and overcame a seemingly insurmountable margin of 9.1 per cent to win the former Liberal National Party stronghold.
Labor’s newly elected MP in Hervey Bay faced a bruising preselection battle and overcame a seemingly insurmountable margin of 9.1 per cent to win the former Liberal National Party stronghold.
Adrian Tantari, who joined Annastacia Palaszczuk to watch the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, has attributed his stunning victory to the Premier’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, and the familiarity he offered voters after the retirement of incumbent LNP stalwart Ted Sorensen.
The three LNP seats won by Labor in last Saturday’s election — Hervey Bay, Caloundra and Pumicestone — were all vacated by their incumbents.
They also shared an ageing demographic that appeared to shy away from One Nation and instead turn to Labor in the face of the health crisis.
In 2017, One Nation won 25.2 per cent of the vote in the retiree haven of Hervey Bay, three hours north of Brisbane. This time, the minor party polled 11 per cent, while the LNP’s primary vote also dropped by 3.2 per cent.
The beneficiary was Mr Tantari, who was contesting the seat for the second time after losing to Mr Sorensen in 2017. He said the familiarity he offered voters made him the de facto incumbent, which was coupled with the comfort offered by the Premier who had appeared on TV screens every day during the peak of the pandemic.
“They were looking for stability, and that stability was given to them by the Premier,” he said.
Mr Tantari said older voters, dubbed “Palaszczuk’s pensioners” by Labor strategists, had swung towards the ALP.
On the eve of the campaign, Mr Tantari had to overcome a preselection tussle after a late challenge from former federal nominee Jason Scanes, who was backed by senior Labor figures.
Mr Tantari said his win validated the support of the branches.
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