LNP names candidates 18 months out from Queensland poll

More than 18 months out from the Queensland election, the state opposition has taken the unusual step of naming three candidates.

LNP leader David Crisafulli said his party was being proactive for the October 2024 poll after seven years in opposition.

LNP leader David Crisafulli (right) hopes that by the time of the October 2024 election, his candidates will be “fit and ready” to help topple Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen, Matt Dennien

“When you’re the underdog, you’ve got to work harder than the other side,” he said on Sunday in a statement.

“That’s why we are getting candidates in the field earlier than Queenslanders have ever seen.

“I want my team out there listening to Queenslanders and proving we are fit and ready to govern.”

Yolonde Entsch will run as the LNP candidate for the seat of Cairns, while Natalie Marr will contest Thuringowa, and Rebecca Young Redlands.

The three women are already leaders and advocates in their local communities, Crisafulli said.

Wheels of Wellness chief executive Entsch, a former Cairns Citizen of the Year, said people in Far North Queensland were calling for change.

“My work has been focused on empowering communities to engage and act, which is precisely the approach I will take as a candidate and an MP, should I be fortunate enough to be elected,” she said in a statement.

Both Marr and Young said they were focused on the issues that mattered to their communities.

“As a small business owner and mother of four, I have a lived understanding of the pressures being placed on households and businesses,” Young said.

“I am looking forward to working closely with our community and being a strong voice on the issues most important to locals.”

Queenslanders are due to go to the polls on October 26, 2024.

-AAP