PUSHED OUT
The real reason behind candidate’s shock election exit
PAULINE Hanson’s One Nation Thuringowa candidate Troy Thompson, who suddenly pulled out of the race last month citing “personal reasons”, was actually axed by the party due to fears his past could emerge and spark a repeat of the disastrous 2017 sex shop scandal campaign drama.
THERE’S A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE IN ONE NATION WHO’VE PAID A LOT OF MONEY AND ARE WORKING VERY HARD TO DO GOOD THINGS. THE LAST THING I WANT TO DO IS BE THE REASON PEOPLE TURN AWAY FROM THEM
TROY THOMPSON
A HIGH-PROFILE One Nation candidate in a key battleground North Queensland seat was axed by the party due to fears his past could emerge and spark a repeat of the disastrous 2017 sex shop scandal campaign drama.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Thuringowa candidate Troy Thompson had been on the hustings for the party for weeks in the marginal Labor-held seat, and had been tipped as a frontrunner, when he suddenly pulled out of the race on September 22, citing “personal reasons”.
The Townsville Bulletin can reveal Mr Thompson, according to leaked documents, had been disendorsed by the party following an executive meeting two days prior.
The party reasoned it was because he had failed to disclose his previous legal name and that he failed to disclose his directorship in a company that went insolvent in 2017.
It can be confirmed that Mr Thompson, under his previous name Troy Joseph Birn-brauer, faced Southport Magistrates Court between 2017 and 2018.
Senator Hanson had been in Townsville just a day before Mr Thompson announced he was pulling out of the race. The firebrand party leader opted not to attend a community crime forum with him on the day and visited Magnetic Island instead.
It’s understood the party moved to disendorse Mr Thompson over fears the skeletons in his closet could emerge and haunt the party, in scenes reminiscent of the sex shop drama scandal that hit One Nation’s Thuringowa candidate Mark Thornton in 2017.
Mr Thornton was confronted at a press conference after jokes about domestic violence were found on the Facebook page of his sex shop.
Senator Hanson stood by her candidate and refused to disendorse him, leaving Mr Thornton to finish the election with 45.8 per cent of the two-party preferred vote.
Claiming he was seen as a “future party leader”, Mr Thompson said he could neither confirm nor deny if he had been disendorsed under an agreement struck with the party but threw his support behind other One Nation candidates.
“There’s a lot of good people in One Nation who’ve paid a lot of money and are working very hard to do good things,” he said. “The last thing I want to do is be the reason people turn away from them.”
Senator Hanson’s righthand man James Ashby declined to comment.
Senator Hanson, in a statement released after Mr Thompson announced he was pulling out, said she respected his decision.
“It’s never an easy decision to put yourself and your family first as an elected member of parliament, so I understand his choice to pull out before locking himself into a fouryear term,” the One Nation leader said.