Fraser Coast councillor David Lee endorsed as Hervey Bay LNP candidate

Hervey Bay’s LNP candidate has officially been confirmed at a meeting tonight where Fraser Coast councillor David Lee revealed he’s ready to represent a city “neglected” by the State.

The LNP’s pick to take on Labor’s Adrian Tantari has officially been confirmed.

Fraser Coast Councillor David Lee, who had long-been the rumoured frontrunner for the role, was endorsed as State Opposition Leader David Crisafulli watched on at a meeting of LNP members in Hervey Bay on Wednesday night.

Speaking outside Hervey Bay’s Masonic Hall following the meeting, Mr Lee said he believed Hervey Bay’s first term Labor MP had been “asleep at the wheel”.

The popular Division 9 candidate will not contest the March 2024 Local Government election and instead will focus full-time on his state campaign.

In recent years Mr Lee, a qualified lawyer with more than 30 years’ experience in the health sector has been vocal in his criticism of plans (or lack thereof) for the future of Hervey Bay’s hospital which is not only landlocked but also, crippled by a booming, ageing population.

This, along with tackling the region’s youth crime crisis and housing shortage will be among his top campaign issues.

Before being elected to the council in 2020, Mr Lee also worked for fifteen years as a chief executive officer and has served as a director in the Not For Profit Sector.

At the 2020 state election Mr Tantari won the seat of Hervey Bay against the LNP’s restaurant owner candidate Steve Coleman by less than 1800 votes.

He succeeded four-term LNP member Ted Sorensen who had retired in the lead up to that election.

Originally published as Fraser Coast councillor David Lee endorsed as Hervey Bay LNP candidate