One Nation announces Gympie candidate to run at state election
A small business owner and mother has thrown her hat in the ring to contest the traditionally “safe National Party seat” of Gympie at the October state election.
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Kilkivan small business owner and former police officer Katy McCallum will stand as One Nation’s candidate for the seat of Gympie at the Queensland state election on October 26.
A statement from the Pauline Hanson One Nation party on Friday said Ms McCallum was married with two children, owned and operated the general store and café in Kilkivan and was conscious of the importance of small business to regional communities.
“Small business is the engine room of regional economies like Gympie, but the future isn’t looking good,” Ms McCallum said in the statement.
“I understand wage rises are needed to help people meet the challenges of Labor’s cost-of-living crisis, but these also add other costs – superannuation contributions, for example – to small businesses which are already struggling with higher rents, insurance, rates and taxes as well as lower revenue from people tightening their belts.
“These issues are slowly breaking the back of small businesses in Queensland. We need to get out of the way of small business and let them do what they do best: create local jobs and thriving regional communities.”
Ms McCallum served in the Queensland Police Service for about 16 years right across the state, and has a few things to say about escalating crime in the state, the statement said.
“Every person you speak to in Gympie has been impacted by crime or knows someone who has been,” she said in the statement.
“It’s out of control, with kids wandering the street looking for trouble and always finding it. Police are struggling for resources. We must be much tougher on repeat offenders, and integrate proven intervention and redirection programs in the justice system.
“I’m also very supportive of One Nation’s policy to implement judicial accountability to the community – holding courts accountable for releasing repeat offenders who then commit crimes on bail. It has to stop.”
The statement read:
“While Ms McCallum has welcomed much needed upgrades to the Bruce Highway in Gympie, she said the entryway to the Cooloola and Fraser Coast is in urgent need of improvement.
“I’ll be campaigning hard for the intersection and road to Rainbow Beach to get the upgrade it desperately needs.
“It’s unsafe and could look a lot more inviting to the many visitors from around Australia who use it.
“We’re also in urgent need of a new high school in the northern part of the electorate to accommodate all the new families who’ve moved here to escape the high cost of living and housing in the cities. Our existing schools are bursting at the seams, requiring more school buses operating on roads that are already unsafe. I’ll be working hard to fast track a new high school.
“I’m backing One Nation as the party standing up for regional Queensland, supporting our farmers and their communities. I’m backing our policies to address Labor’s housing crisis, and to lower the cost of living by adopting an approach to energy that prioritises affordability rather than climate change ideology. With the support of voters in Gympie, I’ll be putting this electorate and its community first.”
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