Turnbull’s exit boosts Liberal Nationals in Queensland

Queensland’s emboldened Liberal National Party is gunning for the regional federal seats of Herbert and Kennedy.

LNP candidate for Herbert Phillip Thompson with wife Jenna and daughter Astin, 7 months. Picture: Cameron Laird

Queensland’s emboldened Liberal National Party is gunning for the regional federal seats of Herbert and Kennedy to offset potential losses elsewhere, amid an upswing in recruitment and fundraising ­following the demise of Malcolm Turnbull.

Although the party trails Labor in key seats, LNP insiders are most optimistic about the Townsville-based seat of Herbert, where a rabble of high-profile minor parties are poised to splinter the vote and force a complex preference count. Labor won the seat by only 37 votes in 2016.

The LNP’s candidate is Queensland’s reigning Young Australian of the Year, Phillip Thompson, who suffered traumatic brain injury from a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan in 2009. Touting himself as a consultative leader, Mr Thompson said he had few memories from ­before the ordeal but became more engaged in politics while advocating for veterans, the mentally ill and those bereaved by suicide.

“This sounds bad, but I don’t see leadership from our civic leaders. I haven’t seen the team ­approach that a city like ours needs. We have civic leaders who don’t consult people,” said Mr Thompson, 30, whose campaign is focused on lower crime, cheaper power prices and tackling Townsville’s 8.9 per cent unemployment.

A clear fault line between the candidates is their approach to Adani’s proposed coalmine, which could kickstart a coalmining boom in the nearby Galilee Basin. Where incumbent Cathy O’Toole is ­reluctant to judge the project’s merits, Mr Thompson is an unabashed supporter.

“If you give me a project that brings jobs to Townsville, I’ll tell you right now, I’ll support it,” he said.

WEB _ Marginal Seats graphic

Ms O’Toole said her personal view on the mine was “absolutely irrelevant” to voters and touted new infrastructure, such as a planned hydro-electricity scheme, to stoke business confidence and create jobs.

“It is very dangerous for any community to put all their employment eggs in one basket,” she said, citing the devastating closure of Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel refinery in 2016.

Mr Palmer is one of the minor-party candidates pledged to contest the seat, splashing his wealth on advertising and grants to local sports clubs. He is also talking about reopening the refinery. One Nation will contest the seat, as will Katter’s Australian Party, which controls an overlapping state seat.

Strategists on both sides agree the removal of Mr Turnbull — who was unpopular in Queensland — has robbed the opposition of a potent asset. Nationals internal polling shows a conservative fightback in central Queensland. However, Coalition infighting is exposing the government to a damaging “stability-versus-chaos” line of attack. The LNP hopes to invert that narrative by marketing its MPs who have vocally criticised the government as tough, independent local voices.

Labor has eight target seats in Queensland, all of which would fall on swings of 4 per cent. Mr Morrison’s rise and the Victorian election result have put the progressive inner-city Liberal seat of Brisbane on Labor’s radar.

An LNP source said the party was recruiting up to 40 new members each week — almost twice as many as under Mr Turnbull — and noted the LNP raised more than $100,000 more than Labor in November despite trailing earlier in the year. The LNP’s resources will be stretched thin, given the number of seats that need defending, but fundraising should be aided by a new federal law ensuring property developers can donate to federal campaigns.

Bob Katter holds Kennedy by an 11.1 per cent margin, but the outback seat is highly volatile. LNP ­insiders note Mr Katter almost lost in 2013, recovering somewhat in 2016 after the Nationals preselected a gay candidate in the socially conservative seat.

LNP candidate Frank Beveridge, a former Charters Towers mayor, said locals were frustrated at missing out on infrastructure lavished on neighbouring seats. KAP downplayed Mr Beveridge’s chances, noting Mr Katter recently traded his vote in parliament for promises totalling $234 million.