Senator-turned-TV host Amanda Stoker defeats priest in Queensland seat of Oodgeroo LNP preselection

Former senator Amanda Stoker has won LNP preselection for the Queensland state seat of Oodgeroo, after backing from Tony Abbott, John Howard, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Peter Dutton.

Ex-LNP senator Amanda Stoker has been endorsed by former PM John Howard, federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton and others, to secure the LNP nomination for the Queensland state seat of Oodgeroo. Picture: David Clark

Former senator Amanda Stoker has won Liberal National Party preselection for the Queensland state seat of Oodgeroo, beating an ordained Anglican priest for the job.

Preselectors on Saturday voted for an LNP candidate to replace retiring LNP MP Mark Robinson to contest the safe bayside Brisbane seat at the October 2024 election, but party insiders predict a tight race between the former Morrison government minister and ordained Anglican priest Daniel Hobbs.

The politician-turned-TV-host prevailed against opponent Mr Hobbs at the vote on Saturday afternoon in the Brisbane bayside seat.

Mr Robinson announced he was retiring, prompting the battle to replace him.

Former federal MP Andrew Laming was a contender before withdrawing after a rigorous internal candidate vetting process.

Branch sources told The Australian that Ms Stoker won the preselection about 60-40 over Mr Hobbs. The Queensland election is in October next year.

Tony Abbott and John Howard, together with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Peter Dutton, had formally endorsed Ms Stoker to secure Liberal National Party pre­selection for the Queensland state seat of Oodgeroo.

Mr Hobbs’s camp was spruiking him as the true “local” candidate, after Ms Stoker moved to the electorate only in recent months; Ms Stoker’s experience in government for one term is the selling point for her backers.

A branch source said the race was “really tightening up”.

“Stoker’s people are still saying that she has it in the bag (but) Hobbs’s people are representing that there’s less than five votes in it,” the source said.

Former prime minister Mr Abbott said Ms Stoker was “a worthy candidate, not because she’s a female but because she’s a highly competent person who’s not too proud to offer herself for service in one of our state parliaments”.

“It would be a real pity if Amanda were to be lost to further public service,” he said.

Ms Stoker lost her Senate spot at last year’s federal election after her colleague James McGrath beat her for the top spot on the Queensland LNP ticket.

Mr Howard said Ms Stoker was an “energetic, committed person” who was a “good thinker” with a “lively personality,” andsenator Price said she was a “role model for many Australian women, including myself”.

“The LNP needs more women like Amanda … who are willing to fight for their strong values and in the best interests of their communities,” she said.

Ms Stoker also had the written backing of outgoing MP Mr Robinson, federal MP for Bowman Henry Pike, who described her as a “once-in-a-generation political talent,” and former deputy prime minister John Anderson.

The federal Opposition Leader said Ms Stoker had a “sharp intellect” and was a “first-class performer in Senate estimates”.

Anglican priest and former journalist Daniel Hobbs, left, and LNP Opposition leader David Crisafulli at the LNP state convention in Brisbane in July. Picture: Instagram

In Mr Hobbs’s latest missive to LNP preselectors, he tells voters he will never “prioritise interests in Canberra or George Street in favour of your needs and priorities as locals” and that he is a “real local with deep roots in the community and not just another establishment candidate”.

Redland City Council mayor Karen Williams has endorsed Mr Hobbs as someone who can deliver “calming and considered leadership with deep caring” while other locals including a junior rugby coach, a Redlands community leader, a member of a school P&F, and a retired lieutenant colonel also backed him.

Cleveland local Jan Constable said she met Mr Hobbs when he took her husband’s funeral six years ago. “(He) was so compassionate and caring,” she said. “I can highly recommend this outstanding human being.”