PACKING DOWN FOR LNP
FORMER NRL player and SeaFM breakfast host Ben Hannant is considering running for state politics after joining the Liberal National Party’s Currumbin Branch.
Hannant told the Bulletin he joined the branch a couple of months ago along with two of his brothers, and parents.
A source within the branch said Hannant could be trying to stack the vote with family members ahead of preselection for the 2020 election.
Hannant comes from a family of 11 children and he said another brother of his was also interested in becoming a member.
He said he joined the LNP so his kids grew up in a better country than he did.
If that meant running for state politics, Hannant said: “I would consider it but it has to be the right time.”
“Everyone is happy to whinge and complain but I want to do more, make a difference in my area,” he said.
“I’m getting older and I would like more of a say now.
“By becoming a member I can have a say on who is in the team for my area.”
The born and bred Gold Coast man, his wife Emma, six children and his parents live in Tallebudgera which falls within the Currumbin electorate.
Now aged 33, he played for NRL clubs Sydney Roosters, Brisbane, Canterbury and North Queensland, as well as Queensland in State of Origin and Australia.
He said current MP Jann Stuckey had done a good job.
“She has been there for a long time as well and I am not sure how long she is willing to do it for,” he said.
There has been speculation within the LNP that Mrs Stuckey would not run in the next election, but the member of 14 years said she was “not ready to put up the ‘gone fishing sign yet’”.
“I have come out of five weeks of a very busy parliamentary period with sitting days and my position on the inquiry into wage theft,” she said.
Hannant’s brother Adam contested Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s Inala seat in the 2015 election, securing 25 per cent of the vote.
EVERYONE IS HAPPY TO WHINGE AND COMPLAIN BUT I WANT TO DO MORE, MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN MY AREA. BEN HANNANT