ScoMo to face Herbert

PRIME Minister Scott Morrison will come face to face with North Queensland voters in a live television forum in Townsville next week.

Mr Morrison will appear on a special edition of Paul Murray Live, which will be televised on Sky News and WIN from 8pm AEST on Wednesday November 7.

Mr Murray told the Townsville Bulletin the decision to host his show in the federal seat of Herbert was partly due to its significance as the most marginal electorate in the country.

“If you can’t win Herbert, you can’t win the election,” he said.

“It’s absolutely up for grabs and that’s the reason we’re interested in Herbert.

“This is the coal face of deciding things like will the Adani mine take place, how do we create jobs and make sure young people want to stay in the regions.”

Mr Murray said anyone in the audience, which was determined on a first serve basis, would be allowed to ask the Prime Minister “anything” during the show.

“I do hope there are Townsville specific questions,” he said. “The challenge for Scott Morrison is he will inevitably say there’s a great story in the Australian economy … but it will be hard to see nodding faces when Townsville is a completely different economy.

“That’s the fundamental problem for any national leader.

“They want to talk about everything from coast to cost, while we the voters demand to know what are you doing for my patch of land.”

During a visit to Townsville in September Mr Morrison said he was “really pleased” to see improvements in optimism and economic confidence in the North.

“I know we’ve got a long way to go but a few years ago I know how tough things were, they were really tough but I remember times before that when times were good,” he said.

“This is a gutsy town and it’s a gutsy part of the country and I get a lot of inspiration out of it so it’s not a hard decision to back in that sort of attitude.

“In our country you get a fair go if you have a go and Townsville’s having a go and they’re going to get a go from my government.”