Stuckey clears the air: I’m not quitting
OUR city’s most southern pollie, Jann Stuckey, is going to quit. This is the biggest political rumour sweeping the Gold Coast. The veteran LNP MP is tipped to retire.
Of course there are other political tales being told. Mayor Tom Tate will not last this term of council, council gossipers say. This water cooler chat circulates for a few weeks before it changes to — no, the Mayor will now be going for a third term in office.
The topic will switch to Donna Gates. She has stood down from the planning committee. The rumour becomes the Deputy Mayor will no longer stick around for the top job.
Always, there are rumours about Gary Baildon, that he will quit and his son Andrew, the former Olympic swimmer, will become the Surfers Paradise councillor.
But this is the thing about the Stuckey rumour. It’s not going away.
Asked this week, she replied: “We will have to wait and see. As far as I’m concerned the next election is October 2020.”
What about going another term? “You never say never until you come out and say it. There’s enough speculation about me.
“I think its really funny my occasional comments. I know exactly what I’ve said to who.
It’s bubbling away. I’m happy for it to bubble because I’m not going anywhere except Bilinga.”
Yesterday morning, the MP sent a text. “For the record I’m not quitting.”
Is this political gossip of any relevance to you living on the Coast? The answer is “absolutely” because take a good look at the Currumbin electorate.
The Gold Coast’s southern end and the fastgrowing northern tip are facing the biggest lifestyle challenges.
The RACQ recently asked residents about their choice of location. They had to rate work, schools, public transport, affordability and family. About 63 per cent of Coast residents nominated “lifestyle” as the major factor, second only to the Sunshine Coast (76.6 per cent), way ahead of Logan (41.2 per cent) and Brisbane (56.7 per cent).
From Burleigh south to Coolangatta, big decisions must be made about extending light and heavy rail, improving both the Pacific and Gold Coast highways.
No matter what side of politics, this area needs an MP connected to community and capable of lobbying for much-needed infrastructure and keeping the area’s relaxed lifestyle.
If Jann Stuckey leaves mid-term, this will create chaos for the LNP.
It means the new leadership of Deb Frecklington will be tested for the first time by a byelection. The party will go to a poll without the backing of developer donations.
In the last State poll, the ALP put much of its financial and organisational grunt into the city’s north. Meaghan Scanlon secured Gaven for Labor.
Senior party strategists were pleasantly surprised by the strong result by young mother Georgi Leader on a much more limited budget in Currumbin.
“The interesting thing about Currumbin is we came relatively close without putting a lot of resources in. Having won Gaven, Currumbin is very much in our sights. It’s absolutely on our radar,” a senior Labor strategist says.
Does the LNP start searching for a new candidate? How do they get a war chest of campaign funding? How to approach Ms Stuckey?
It’s a bit like visiting Currumbin Sanctuary. The lorikeets are lovely but there’s always a chance no matter how carefully you approach, you will get a spray you won’t forget. OUR region’s top cop Brian Codd is clearing out his Surfers Paradise desk and heading back to Brisbane.
Like many officers before him, the chief superintendent was sent here by his superiors without prior experience of Glitter Strip crime and the unique coalface that is Gold Coast policing.
They assigned him a new leadership team, and he was let down, loyal to senior officers, some who had no interest in the Coast and others whose only priority was ambition and rising through the ranks.
To his credit, Supt Codd remained true to his core values of looking after the mental health of the troops, changing rosters and ensuring Surfers officers got leave with families.
Late on a Friday, on the phone responding to a media call, sitting in his car waiting for a meeting to start at Logan, his enthusiasm for community was genuine.
Despite the ongoing media hits about crime figures, he showed no signs of a glass jaw, never got personal or nasty. Others in public life should consider that legacy.
MP JANN STUCKEY ON HER FUTURE