Look who snuck in ... is an election coming?

THE political leader who will play a key role in the next state election has spent two days in the Far North securing a candidate for the plum seat of Mulgrave.

One Nation’s Pauline Hanson also returns tomorrow as she ramps up her “X Factor” campaign.

Accompanied by controversial adviser James Ashby, she let slip to the Cairns Post that a new candidate had been chosen for the Mulgrave seat, replacing Peter Rogers who was dumped earlier this year.

While waiting to board a plane for her first visit to Weipa yesterday, they would not divulge the name as it had not been made official.

“We’ve just endorsed a lady for that seat. She’s got a business background, so she’s very good,” Senator Hanson said.

She said the woman was well qualified.

“She was selected for her qualifications,” she said. “She’s actually stood before for an election so she’s got that background. I think she’s got a lot to offer in the party.”

Ms Hanson met Mayor Bob Manning to talk about a number of issues, including the Cairns port development.

“It’s very important. If you want the bigger ships in here otherwise you’re very limited in size,” she said. Ms Hanson said it was one of the key issues for Far North Queensland, along with electricity prices.

“I can tell you that Far North Queensland will not be forgotten by One Nation like it had been by the major political parties,” she said.

“I’m probably one of the most seen members of this senate. People could honestly say that I’ve actually taken the time to get out and around North Queensland.”

Ms Hanson said she had spent her visit to Cairns speaking with the “average Joe” about what they wanted.

“What I’m hearing is North Queensland feels like they’ve been totally forgotten,” she said. “The port is actually paying a lot of money into the coffers of the State Government, yet they’re not getting the results from it. There’s a lot of money that you pay here into the State Government in taxes … money is not injected back into this area.”

Ms Hanson believes Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will call an election “quite soon” and avoid having a poll in the wet season.

“I think she’ll call it this year rather than next year … with the Commonwealth Games next year,” she said.