Qld state election 2024: Candidates for Cairns, Barron River, Mulgrave, Cook

There will be no shortage of choice for Far North voters with 36 candidates campaigning across six seats in a bid to win a seat at parliament. See the full list of names and vote in the poll.

Far Northerners will begin having their say on their future government and local parliamentarian from Monday, October 14 when early voting opens for the October 26, Queensland state election.

The diverse region spanning from the tip of Australia and the islands beyond, down to the costal oasis of Cardwell and stretching west to the food bowls of Atherton and Mareeba is represented by six seats, with 36 candidates vying for a seat at Parliament House for this next term.

The Electoral Commission of Queensland closed its candidate nominations on Tuesday, October 8, and below is the list of each individual running for election.

Far North state electorate boundaries. Source: Electoral Commission Queensland.

CAIRNS

– Geena Court – One Nation

– Josh Holt – The Greens

– Michael Healy – Australian Labor Party

– Yolonde Entsch – Liberal National Party

– Shane Cuthbert – Independent

BARRON RIVER

– Bree James – Liberal National Party

– Craig Crawford – Australian Labor Party

– Ben Campbell – Katter’s Australian Party

– Peter Eicens – One Nation

– Denise Crew – The Greens

MULGRAVE

– Nicholas Daniels – Legalise Cannabis Queensland Party

– Steven Lesina – Katter’s Australian Party

– David Raymond – Independent

– Peter Everett – The Greens

– Richie Bates – Australian Labor Party

– Terry James – Liberal National Party

– Michael McInnes – One Nation

– Leslie Searle – Family First

– Ian Floyd – Independent

– Yodie Batzke – Independent

COOK

– Duane Amos – Katter’s Australian Party

– David Kempton – Liberal National Party

– Cynthia Lui – Australian Labor Party

– Peter Campion – One Nation

– Troy Miller – The Greens

HILL

– Jennifer Cox – The Greens

– Michael Hodgkins – Australian Labor Party

– Matt Lachlan – Independent

– Brenda Turner – One Nation

– Cameron McCollum – Liberal National Party

– Shane Knuth – Katter’s Australian Party

HINCHINBROOK

– Ina Pryor – Australian Labor Party

– Annette Swaine – Liberal National Party

– Ric Daubert – One Nation

– Nick Dametto – Katter’s Australian Party

– Jon Kowski – The Greens

– Kevin Wheatley – Legalise Cannabis Queensland Party

The Far North which features three of the top 15 most marginal seats for the current government has been identified as a potential “king-making” region with the latest polls tipping a significant swing against the incumbent government.

Those seats include Cairns, Barron River and Cook, all held by Labor, while neighbouring electorate Mulgrave, once a red stronghold has been vacated by party stalwart Curtis Pitt, opening the southern suburbs of Cairns to one of the hottest races in the state featuring a 10-card stack of candidates.

Mulgrave will present the most number of candidates running in any Queensland electorate, followed by the Premier’s seat of Murrumba, which features nine runners.

As it stood, the ALP held 51 seats, the LNP with 35, KAP has four, Greens with two and one independent.

This article will be updated in the lead-up to the election with candidate profiles and details of key issues in the region.

Originally published as Qld state election 2024: Candidates for Cairns, Barron River, Mulgrave, Cook