EMERSON LOSS TO HURT LNP
Treasury spokesman admits defeat
OPPOSITION spokesman for Treasury Scott Emerson has reluctantly conceded defeat in the Brisbane seat of Maiwar in a savage blow to the LNP, as Annastacia Palaszczuk nudges closer to forming government.
Regarded as one of the LNP’s top performers, Mr Emerson took to Twitter yesterday to concede he was out of f the race after three days of counting. The Greens’ Michael Berkman and Labor’s Ali King will now fight it out.
If Ms King is successful, it would mean the Premier would almost certainly be able to form majority government.
Steering clear of media yesterday, Mr Emerson ( pictured) took to social media to thank his supporters over his threeterm career.
“While the eventual winner in # Maiwar remains uncertain, it’s clear it will not be the @ LNPQLD,’’ he tweeted.
Mirani gun dealer and pest controller Stephen Andrew looks to have finally secured One Nation’s first elected seat in Parliament since 2009.
It comes as Katter’s Australian Party is on track to secure coveted party status, which will see it allocated extra re- sources and staff b by the h P Parliali ment, along with pay rises for their expected three members.
Despite One Nation insiders spruiking the possibility of winning up to a dozen seats in the election, the resurgent party looks likely to win only the seat of Mirani – formerly held by Labor stalwart Jim Pearce. After preferences, Mr Andrew last night led Mr Pearce by about 2000 votes.
“Jim and I exchanged a lot of conversations over the last week – I’ve never said a bad word about Jim. He does what he does and who am I to make any judgment on what he’s done and what he hasn’t done – and at the end of the day it’s the people’s say,” Mr Andrew said.
Mr Andrew said it would take some time to find his feet in Parliament, given his lack of experience, but he was excited to t be the first One Nation representative r in the house.
KAP leader Robbie Katter said he would “be happy” to show Mr Andrew the ropes after he spoke to him on the phone yesterday.
“We did that with Billy Gordon and Rob Pyne as much as they were willing to listen. We were more than happy to help out as much as we could with anyone on the crossbench,” he said. “If we stay close together in this Parliament, collectively we will be able to deliver a lot.”
With the KAP set to be granted party status, Mr Katter is set to enjoy a $ 60,000 a year windfall on top of his $ 160,000 salary as the party leader, along with a string of extra staff to assist in Parliament.
“It’s a pretty sensible sort of outcome because if you look at that last parliament, we were pretty instrumental in making things happen, and the LNP had 21 staff and we had three down there,” Mr Katter said.
“It’s really good for rural and regional Queensland because both majors walked away from us in an election campaign by not working for the rural vote, so we are more than happy to take that mantle.”
Last night there were still eight seats in doubt.