North could lose voice
Macdonald downgrade risks Senate spot
IAN Macdonald’s unceremonious plunge to the depths of the senate ticket could leave North Queensland without a genuine upper-house voice unless Labor shakes things up.
The Ayr-based Coalition senator issued a statement yesterday saying he had “let down (his) beloved north by leaving it without senate representation for the first time in over four decades”.
He has been dropped back to fourth place, considered an extremely long shot especially in the current political climate.
“I am still on the LNP senate ticket at the difficult number four position but I will be campaigning hard, and with ‘under the line’ voting now possible in the Senate, anything can happen,” Sen Macdonald said.
The party’s new top-three Queensland candidates all live in Brisbane — mining executive Paul Scarr, finance executive Gerard Rennick and Super Butcher managing director Susan McDonald, who at least has links to Cloncurry.
Brinsmead music teacher Nicole Tobin has been handed the sixth slot on the LNP ticket — a virtual certainty to result in a loss.
The region’s representation is even more dire from Labor, which has not had a North Queensland senator since long-serving Far Northerner Jan McLucas was dumped before the 2016 federal election.
Internal rules state the party should have a regional and North Queensland senator, meaning the door could and should be opened to some prominent Labor stalwart north of Rockhampton to enter the race.
Cairns Regional Councillor Richie Bates, who missed lower house preselection for Leichhardt to Elida Faith in a surprise upset, denied he was making a senatorial bout.
“It’s not something I’ve considered at this stage,” he said.
A Queensland Labor insider said the current focus was on holding the Brisbane seat of Longman in the June 28 “Super Saturday” by-elections.
Senate preparations will follow once the results are in and potential candidates ramp up their jostling for prime spots.
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