Queensland election: No back-up if One Nation leader fails

One Nation’s Steve Dickson says there is ‘no back-up plan’ over who will lead if he is not elected.

One Nation Queensland leader Steve Dickson.

One Nation’s Queensland leader Steve Dickson has conceded there is “no back-up plan’’ over who will lead the potential balance-of-power party if he is unable to overcome “underdog status’’ to hold his seat at the state election.

The Liberal National Party defector, who is tipped by polls for a likely defeat in his Sunshine Coast seat of Buderim, also said deputy One Nation leader Sam Cox faced a similar tough battle to win the LNP-held seat of Burdekin in north Queensland.

After weeks of avoiding questions about a possible leadership vacuum following the November 25 election, Mr Dickson said One Nation might have to resort to one of its little known candidates — if they are successful — to lead ­negotiations in the event of a hung parliament.

“No, there is no back-up plan,’’ he said. “We have ... a number of people who are capable of running any business and can do the business of running Queensland.’’

Mr Dickson, who won his seat as an LNP MP and has to overcome a margin of 11.8 per cent, said he would not nominate any one of the 61 One Nation candidates he believed could lead the party. “I don’t want to create speculation,’’ he said.

Successive polls have pointed to a hung parliament, with One Nation — which has statewide support of about 16 per cent — possibly winning a handful of seats. Last week, the LNP also improved One Nation’s chances by announcing it would preference the minor party ahead of Labor in 49 seats.

A Galaxy poll in The Courier-Mail last weekend showed One Nation candidate Scott Bannan — a former kickboxing champion and one-time Hells Angels — could unseat Labor incumbent Linus Power in Logan. Former Queensland senator Malcolm Roberts, who was ruled ineligible to remain in the Senate because of his dual citizenship — is contesting Ipswich at the election, one of Labor’s safest seats with a margin of 16.80 per cent.

Mr Roberts declined to comment about the leadership issue.

One Nation’s failure to run in all but three Gold Coast seats has also sparked Labor accusations the protest party and the LNP have done a secret preference deal in the LNP stronghold.

Labor state secretary Evan Moorhead said One Nation running dead in the region south of Brisbane was the only explanation for the LNP putting One Nation ahead of Labor in 49 seats.

“Clearly the Gold Coast is the deal,” Mr Moorhead said. “That’s the only way in my head I can explain 50 seats and making this the central piece of the campaign. Without any sitting Labor MPs on the Coast, it is the one region where preferencing against sitting MPs would hurt the LNP most.”

The LNP holds all 11 seats on the Gold Coast, including the new electorate of Bonney, which is ­notionally LNP. One Nation is running representatives in three Gold Coast seats: Coomera, Mudgeeraba and Theodore.

Mr Dickson said One Nation would have run more candidates but “ran out of time’’. An LNP spokesman said talk of a secret preference deal was “laughable”.