Warning on preferences
One Nation looks at putting all sitting MPs last on vote cards
ONE Nation candidates in the North may put all sitting Queensland MPs last on the party’s how- to- vote cards.
Deputy leader of One Nation in Queensland and Burdekin candidate Sam Cox said a final decision on preferences was still to be made.
“We’re saying both parties have lost their way and if the sitting member is just sitting there — well sitting there is not good enough,” Mr Cox said.
“We have it as an option for all incumbents to put them last.”
He denied speculation One Nation had been doing preference deals, declaring: “One Nation has not been talking to anyone”.
The upcoming Queensland election, due by early next year, is the first in which preferential voting is compulsory in Queensland.
One Nation’s Townsville candidate Allan Evans said a decision about preferences would be made after the election was called.
He was confident One Nation would hold the balance of power in Queensland.
“The two- party political system we have now is broken,” he said. “We’ve only had the choice between the LNP and the ALP and I’m hoping we can break the two- party stranglehold in the country.”
The seat of Thuringowa is in One Nation’s sights after the party has polled as high as 33 per cent, despite not having se- lected a candidate to challenge Labor’s Aaron Harper.
Mr Cox said several candidates had put their names forward for Thuringowa.
“We believe we’ll have a full card for the Townsville region,” he said.
A Galaxy Research poll in August showed 15 per of Queenslanders would give their primary vote to One Nation.
Support has been as high as 23 per cent and Mr Cox said many One Nation candidates had strong chances of winning.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of three- way contests,” he said, adding if One Nation did hold the balance of power it would be happy to talk with either major party.
“We will be a strong voice for regional Queensland, including the North,” he said
“We will be looking at what’s best for Queensland and if we have representatives from North Queensland we’ll make sure their voice is heard.”
Mundingburra candidate Malcolm Charlwood said Townsville residents were concerned about power prices, water security and crime.