Premier’s bureaucrat to run for LNP in Inala as Palaszczuk dodges hustings

A Vietnamese woman who previously worked in Steven Miles’s government department will run for the LNP in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s multicultural Inala electorate.

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A Vietnamese woman who previously worked in Steven Miles’s government department will run for the LNP in Annastacia Palaszczuk’s multicultural Inala electorate.

The endorsement, and revelations Ms Palaszczuk is likely to avoid the campaign hustings, is likely to set-up a closer-than-expected by-election on March 16 between the government and opposition – seven months before the October state election.

The Courier-Mail can reveal 28-year public servant Trang Yen, who worked in the Department of State Development under Mr Miles, was on Friday endorsed as the LNP’s Inala candidate.

In Inala, 14.4 per cent of residents have Vietnamese ancestry, well above the 0.7 per cent Queensland average.

Ms Yen, the acting chief financial officer of Trade Investment Queensland, faces a monumental challenge clawing back Labor’s 28.2 per cent margin in Inala – the state’s safest seat.

The LNP’s candidate for next month’s Inala by-election. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“We have to act to make our communities safer, we must take the pressure off Queenslanders who are struggling with the rising costs of living, and we need a government that will improve access to health services,” she said.

“I believe the community deserves someone who truly represents the community, and that is what I offer.”

Former Cameron Dick staffer Margie Nightingale will be Labor’s candidate, with the Palaszczuk name absent from the ballot paper for the first time in 40 years.

Ms Palaszczuk, whose resignation from parliament on December 31 sparked the by-election, will appear in endorsement material for her successor but it is understood she is likely to stay away from campaigning alongside her.

Labor insiders had previously tipped Ms Palaszczuk to join Ms Nightingale on the campaign.

Queensland Labor State Secretary Kate Flanders said the Palaszczuk name should not overshadow Ms Nightingale in the by-election.

LNP Leader David Crisafulli with Ipswich West candidate Darren Zanow and Trang Yen. Picture: Steve Pohlner

“It’s a big transition from Henry and Annastacia who both have such a strong local profile, but Margie’s a strong local who has a community profile of her own,” Ms Flanders said.

With the new premier Mr Miles likely to make announcements in the electorate, some concerns were raised within the party about the optics of a current and future premier appearing together.

Mr Miles has attempted to distance himself from Ms Palaszczuk’s priorities, including the Olympic Games, and on Friday insisted he was running a “new government”.

The LNP has also named Ipswich Show Society President Darren Zanow its candidate for Ipswich West, where Jim Madden has quit to run for Ipswich City Council.

Opposition Leader David Crisafulli said argued the Labor Party had taken Ipswich West and Inala “for granted”.

“While the LNP is supporting a businessman and local champion who has Ipswich running through his veins as well as a strong woman from the heart of the Vietnamese community who has spent her entire working life serving our state, the Labor Party is running two Labor political operatives because they believe that’s all their historic Labor heartland deserve,” he said.

Premier Steven Miles with Labor’s candidate for Inala Margie Nightingale. Picture: Instagram

“I think Ipswich and Inala deserve better, and a vote for the LNP will send a strong message to Labor that their government has the wrong priorities and Queenslanders need change.”

Insiders in both parties are treating the Inala and Ipswich West by-elections as a curtain raiser to the main October election.

Inala is Queensland’s safest seat, blessed by the Palaszczuk name for 40 years and claimed by the LNP to be the “jewel” in Labor’s crown.

The party’s first preference vote percentage has consistently reached the high 60s, with the exception of the 2012 wipe-out when it fell to 46 per cent.

Experienced Labor operatives are expecting a swing against the party – noting by-elections to replace exiting premiers Daniel Andrews in Victoria and Mark McGowan in Western Australia resulted in a double-digit move against Labor.

The government is expecting its vote to soften following the end of the 40-year Palaszczuk reign, but there is no concern about the seat being lost.

Ipswich West is also considered Labor heartland with the party holding it with a 14.3 per cent margin.

It, however, is considered a closer contest due to the electorate flipping in Campbell Newman’s 2012 ambush and the traditionally strong polling by Pauline Hanson’s One Nation.

Originally published as Premier’s bureaucrat to run for LNP in Inala as Palaszczuk dodges hustings