Barton’s Broady battle
‘Oldies’ help embattled Verity as Stu’s Sam wins
Ms Barton amid a backlash against Mr Crisafulli, who some locals call “a blow-in” after moving from north Queensland to Hope Island.
An LNP source with inside knowledge of the Broadwater 2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES HOST CITY membership base said: “It’s hard to say one way or another which way it will fall. It’s not a done deal for anybody.
“We’ve heard there is a lot of support coming for Verity. People have threatened to leave the party and storm out of the room if Verity gets dumped.”
Party rules prevent candidates from making public statements in the lead-up to pre-selection but the Crisafulli camp remain confident of gaining strong votes from members based at Sanctuary Cove and Hope Island.
“David has been speaking with a number of LNP members in the area and is reasonably confident about taking out the seat,” a source close to the Crisafulli camp said.
The Broadwater battle will be different to the united front presented by the LNP after pre-selection for the new seat of Bonney on Saturday night.
Fadden MP Stuart Robert’s media man Sam O’Connor easily beat rival and turf club identity Richard Towson.
LNP president Gary Spence told the Bulletin: “If elected, Sam will be a great representative for the new Gold Coast seat of Bonney. He is enthusiastic, dedicated and gets things done.
“This election is critical for the Gold Coast. With bikies on the way back under this do-nothing Labor Government, we will be providing the people who live in the new seat of Bonney with a strong and loud voice in Brisbane.”
Mr O’Connor said he expected to stand down from his job in a few weeks to begin a fulltime campaign.
“I’ll always stand up for our community. We can’t afford to sit back and let crime continue to get out of control under Labor. “If the Labor Party win the seat of Bonney you can almost guarantee the bikies clubhouses will be back in Labrador too. Vote for the LNP to keep the bikies off the Gold Coast or vote Labor and see the bikies back in town.”