The Chronicle

PARIS HILTON OF POLITICS?

- Chris Calcino chris.calcino@thechronic­le.com.au

John McVeigh: He has been in more parties than Paris Hilton and now he is jumping into bed with Peter Beattie’s Labor.

THERE is no love lost between former LNP stablemate­s John McVeigh and Ray Hopper.

Member for Toowoomba South John McVeigh unleashed on Mr Hopper during parliament on Wednesday, likening the Katter’s Australia Party state leader to an notorious American socialite.

“Sure, he has been in more parties than Paris Hilton and now he is jumping into bed with Peter Beattie’s Labor,” Mr McVeigh said.

Mr Hopper defected from the LNP in 2012 after accusing the State Government of not being interested in regional communitie­s.

When he first came to parliament in 2001, he was registered as an independen­t.

He remains the elected member for Condamine.

Wednesday’s parliament­ary outburst followed a decision by Katter’s Australia Party to give electoral preference­s to the Labor Party.

“It begs the question: does the Katter party leader in this chamber also want Peter Beattie back in power – a man who demonised and terrorised farmers for a decade and did his best to destroy farming here in Queensland?” Mr McVeigh asked.

“Is the KAP leader, the ‘Katter’s Labor Party’ leader, the member for Condamine, wholeheart­edly supporting Peter Beattie’s return through a grubby preference deal in Forde? “Is Ray Hopper serious? “Is this part of his plan, to join the Queensland Opposition?”

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 ??  ?? LITTLE RESEMBLANC­E: Who ever said Queensland politics was boring? Member for Condamine Ray Hopper has been compared to American socialite Paris Hilton during parliament.
LITTLE RESEMBLANC­E: Who ever said Queensland politics was boring? Member for Condamine Ray Hopper has been compared to American socialite Paris Hilton during parliament.
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