North Qld fight will come down to the wire

Early preferences for Katter’s Australian Party could push LNP over the line in north Queensland with all three marginal Labor seats – Townsville, Mundingburra and Thuringowa – under threat.

Mundingburra MP Les Walker and Townsville MP Scott Stewart. Picture: Evan Morgan

The fight for North Queensland will come down to the wire as the LNP circles to claim crucial Townsville seats, with early preferences set to determine the winners of the North.

All three marginal Labor seats – Townsville, Mundingburra and Thuringowa – are under threat, with sources saying early preferences for Katter’s Australian Party could push LNP over the line.

Early polling showed a swing to the LNP in Les Walker’s seat of Mundingburra, where LNP candidate and police officer Janelle Poole was ahead.

The seats of Townsville and Thuringowa – currently held by Scott Stewart and Aaron Harper – remained in doubt as they were taken on by LNP’s Adam Baillie and Natalie Marr.

Despite a suspecting uprising for Katter’s Australian Party earlier this week, polls show all three candidates trailing well behind.

The last time the seat of Mundingburra was held by the LNP was in 2015, when the incoming Premier David Crisafulli was the member.

All three LNP candidates were jovial and upbeat as they mingled around the room at the party’s Townsville election function, shaking hands and hugging supporters.

Adam Baillie.

Cheers and applause went around the room as seats looked more likely to be claimed and votes continued to be counted.

Federal Herbert MP Phil Thompson addressed the crowd at the LNP’s election party at The Ville in Townsville, saying he was hopeful for all three LNP candidates.

“No good ideas come out of Brisbane, they come out of the regions, from Townsville,” Mr Thompson said.

“We look to our people who live here … that go, ‘we want a better life and we want change’.”

Meanwhile, KAP leader Robbie Katter was dominating in the first votes counted in Traeger, as well as his deputy leader Nick Dametto in Hinchinbrook.

Burdekin’s LNP Dale Last looked comfortably ahead in his seat.

The three Townsville seats – some of the most crucial in Queensland – were held by Labor for almost 10 years under former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who led the party to a third victory during the uncertain times of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2020, all three Townsville Labor MPs held onto their seats by less than 4 per cent – making them among the most marginal in Queensland and ripe for the taking by a circling LNP.

Townsville’s juvenile crime issue has been plaguing the city for many years, with record-breaking car theft and break-in offences in 2020, and the issue has been turned into a political topic in North Queensland.

Member for Mundingburra Les Walker. Picture: Evan Morgan

The violent and brazen crime came to a head just months after the 2020 election with the death of Townsville motorcyclist and aspiring police officer, 22-year-old Jennifer Board, in February, 2021.

Ms Board was killed when a stolen car driven by juvenile Gregory Clubb crashed into her motorbike after he was rammed by vigilante Christopher Hughes. Both have since been sentenced over her death.

The community was left shattered by Ms Board’s death, and joined together to become more vocal about change to solve the crime crisis which has branded the regional city as “Crimsville”.

Since then, crime rates have declined, but Townsville still has the highest crime rate of any city in the state.

Premier Steven Miles and wife Kim and daughter Bridie, sons Aidan and Sam at the Labor Headquarters Election Campaign Party at Murrumba Downs Tavern. Pic: Adam Head

Despite Premier Steven Miles offering up his Community Safety Plan, which includes more than $1 billion to fight crime – voters had already made up their mind.

The LNP’s signature “Adult Crime, Adult Time” and a raft of other policies seemingly cut through to the fed up North desperate for change.

But Townsville police sources have doubted the LNP’s policies, saying they were half-baked and wouldn’t make a difference to crime in the North.

“Nothing will change,” one senior police officer said.

“The only respite for the community is custody … and it’s not the answer.”

Another police officer acknowledged change was needed, but didn’t believe the policies got to the crux of the problem.

“Arresting our way out of crime and spending our way out of problems is not the answer.”

The election campaign in the North hasn’t been without its controversy, after KAP candidate Michael Pugh publicly apologised when revelations were aired about his criminal past in the early 2000s.

LNP deputy leader Jarrod Bleijie made a last-ditch attempt to soil Mr Pugh’s name just days out from the election, labelling him “Troy Thompson 2.0”.

Mr Pugh’s opponent, Ms Poole was also diagnosed with follicular Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma just months after announcing she’d be running for the seat of Mundingburra.

It also sees the end of embattled MP Les Walker, who has been involved in multiple incidents in the city’s pub district and criticised for his behaviour at a police remembrance day.

Originally published as North Qld fight will come down to the wire