LNP pair for crucial seats

Charges over hoax calls

POLICE at Byron Bay have charged a man after 61 hoax triple-0 calls were made from the same number.

Local police had been responding to numerous false triple-0 calls in the Byron Bay area for a number of weeks and determined that many were received from the same phone number.

A 35-year-old transient man from Byron Bay was arrested on Saturday morning at Tallows Beach following a foot chase.

The man was also found to be carrying 6.5 grams of cannabis and had an outstanding arrest warrant for previous drug-related matters.

He was charged with making false emergency calls and possessing cannabis.

The man was refused bail and was due to appear at Tweed Heads Local Court this morning. QUEENSLAND’S Liberal National Party has selected a police officer and a former soldier as candidates for two mustwin Sunshine Coast seats.

Financial planner and former army officer Brent Mickelberg, the son of local party chair Graeme Mickelberg, has been preselected to contest the seat of Buderim, held by One Nation state leader Steve Dickson, who defected from the LNP earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Marty Hunt, a police sergeant assigned to the Burnside PCYC will contest the seat of Nicklin, held by independent Peter Wellington. Mr Wellington, the current Speaker, has held the one-time National Party seat since 1998 and will retire at the next poll.

The LNP will likely need to win both seats to win government, especially with the prospect of losses to One Nation elsewhere in the state.