HIERARCHY IS PREPARING FOR A ROYAL BATTLE IN LEICHHARDT
Industry, Employment and Innovation Committee as this felt like it was most relevant to Barron River and Cairns with the announcement of Aquis and the growing youth unemployment rates,” he said.
The younger Mr Auld already had his sights set on a political career way back then when Aquis was yet to be proven a cruel joke.
He is the LNP’s Barron River chairman and ran candidate Linda Cooper’s unsuccessful campaign against Craig Crawford in the last state election.
Barron River will not go to an election again for another two years, but Mr Auld will be plying his political trade in service of Warren Entsch’s campaign over the next couple of months.
He is seen as the man in charge for most of what happens north of Cairns, but political powerbrokin’ is rarely a full-time job.
In civilian life, Mr Auld works as an associate with
Devenish Law.
Tamara Srhoj The anointed one
If anyone on this list has all the makings of a future parliamentarian, it is Ms Srhoj.
She works as an adviser in Warren Entsch’s office and has deep family ties to the Far North – particularly on the Tablelands.
She is a savvy operator whose name always comes up when future MP speculation rears its head.
Ms Srhoj previously worked for David Kempton when he was Cook MP and, before that, as a broker with Joe Vella Insurance Brokers.
She knows everyone who is anyone on the Tablelands and has a big support network that will back her if (when) ever she decides to throw her hat in the ring – especially within agricultural and sporting circles.
In the meantime, she is a tireless backroom manoeuvrer and frontline campaigner who will throw her
full energy behind Mr Entsch in the upcoming campaign.
Adam Davies Media dude
The former journalist worked in the UK and made a name for himself at The Chronicle in Toowoomba and as a state court and political reporter before jumping ship to the political realm.
He worked as a media adviser to Queensland’s former LNP leader, Tim Nicholls, before heading north to join Warren Entsch’s team in February 2018.
The Scots College alumnus is seen as one of the key chess players in the LNP’s political race for Leichhardt – and his background in the media makes him a formidable ally.
Warren Entsch Veteran MP
An obvious inclusion but one that cannot be overlooked.
Warren Entsch is the face of the LNP in Far North Queensland and likely the reason it has managed to hold
on to Leichhardt for so long.
The former crocodile farmer has a personal brand as a knockabout Far Northerner that transcends party lines and has helped him win all eight elections he has contested.
Mr Entsch is an inveterate backbencher and has long stated he could achieve more for his electorate from outside ministerial portfolios than within.
His influence within the party is not insignificant.
It was largely due to his incessant campaigning that the Coalition was dragged kicking and screaming into the marriage equality debate.
Mr Entsch now has his sights set on insurance and has managed to get a $10bn reinsurance pool across the line to drive down premiums in cyclone-prone areas of Northern Australia.
The government’s Great
Barrier Reef special envoy is in a tough position this time around with Labor’s popularity surging in the wake of Covid lockdown backlash.
His opponent, Labor’s Elida Faith, is now a secondterm candidate with much more experience – and a lot of the unions and ALP’s fire power at her disposal.
David Kempton The man on the Tablelands
These days he is best known as a lawyer at Preston Law and chairman of regional development lobby group RDA Tropical North.
However, Mr Kempton’s background as member for
Cook from 2012-15 gives him a special kind of influence that only ex-MPs have within the LNP.
He is very outspoken on matters pertaining to investment in the Far North and the need to open up the region’s industries to the world.
Mr Kempton has a keen legal mind that can be put to good use when it comes to political campaigning – not to mention the experience to know all the right strings to pull.
Deirdre and Colin Ford LNP’s Brangelina
The official LNP power couple of Far North Queensland, this political combo is involved in just about everything.
Mrs Ford in particular has a lot of influence within the party and is known behind closed doors as the best person to call when you need to fill a room.
She knows every member in the region and has the gift of the gab to make sure they turn up to important meetings when there must be a vote.
The former councillor was granted lifetime party membership last year, which is a huge honour within the LNP.
Mr Ford, likewise, has been a loyal party member for decades and holds a special position when it comes to talking tactics and campaigning.
Robert Cuda “The Moneyman”
That term – the Moneyman – is the actual name Mr Cuda is known by among party faithful in the Far North. He is an accomplished accountant and inexplicably ends up drawing the short straw whenever a new group needs a treasurer.
In his day job, Mr Cuda is an associate director at BDO Australia – an expert in taxation compliance, property development, retail and management rights.
Trent Twomey Wheeler and dealer
For a long time, he was seen as the future of the party in the Far North with a lot of calls for him to run for Senate preselection.
Those calls will no doubt re-emerge over the coming years, but in the meantime Mr Twomey is one busy bloke.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia national president runs the
successful Alive Pharmacy chain
with 11 stores across North Queensland.
You might not see him handing out how-to-vote cards on election day but rest assured, he is one of the LNP’s most critical players in the region.
His ties across business and all tiers of government make him an indispensable resource, and his political nous means he is the go-to guy when it comes to figuring out policy direction.