Local Electors Back LNP

January 31, 2015

The two local LNP candidates – Deb Frecklington (Nanango) and Jeff Seeney (Callide) – have been safely re-elected at Saturday’s Queensland election, defying a statewide trend which has seen a massive swing to the ALP.

At 10:20pm, with 41 of 58 booths counted in Nanango, Deb Frecklington was ahead with 45.9 per cent of the vote.

Mrs Frecklington has achieved a rare triumph for the LNP. Nanango is the only seat in Queensland to record a swing to the party. The LNP vote in Nanango is up 7 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

In Callide, with 57 booths out of 75 counted, Jeff Seeney has secured 45 per cent of the vote (56.8 per cent after a notional distribution of preferences), however PUP candidate John Bjelke-Petersen cut into Mr Seeney’s margin with a 6.7 per cent swing.

Former Gympie Regional Council Deputy Mayor Tony Perrett has been elected to represent the LNP in Gympie, but again the party lost ground by about 6 per cent.

Across the rest of the State, the situation for the LNP looks less happy with the prospect of a hung Parliament or an ALP victory being tipped by some commentators.

Premier Campbell Newman has conceded he has lost the seat of Ashgrove to Labor candidate Kate Jones.

Local Government Minister David Crisafulli, who has lost Mundingburra after the ALP notched up a 14 per cent swing, predicted early in the count that “a lot of good people” were going to lose their seats.

Speaking on ABC-TV, he said the message from the election was “if you are going to reform, you have to take people on the journey with you”.

Treasurer Tim Nicholls, who has held onto Clayfield despite a 11 per cent swing against him, said “Federal factors” had certainly played a part in the result with “less than helpful things” occurring late in the campaign, including the knighthood of Prince Phillip and discussions about raising the GST.

* * *

Voters flocked to polling booths throughout the South Burnett on Saturday to cast their vote in the State Election.

A steady stream of residents passed through the booths to cast votes for the seats of Callide and Nanango.

In Kingaroy, numbers appeared to be down, perhaps because of the large number of pre-poll votes in the days before the official voting day.

Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington and her husband Jason cast their votes at the Uniting Church Hall booth in Kingaroy.

The couple also visited booths in Nanango and Kingaroy to talk to volunteers and voters.

Member for Callide Jeff Seeney voted in Biloela.

Polling booths closed at 6:00pm and first results began flowing in quickly afterwards.

[UPDATED 10:20pm]

* * *

UPDATE February 2: Counting continued slowly today. In Nanango, with 55 of 65 booths now counted, incumbent Deb Frecklington increased her margin slightly to 46.44 per cent of all votes counted; in Callide, with 67 of 82 booths counted, incumbent Jeff Seeney also increased his lead slightly to 46.27 per cent.

UPDATE February 3: No counting took place in the Nanango electorate today, but Callide’s count rose to 70 of 82 booths, with incumbent Jeff Seeney increasing his lead fractionally to 47.05 per cent of all votes counted.

UPDATE February 5: Counting has proceeded slowly in both electorates over the past 48 hours. In Callide, with 74 of 82 booths now counted, incumbent Jeff Seeney has slipped back to 46.84 per cent of all votes counted. And in Nanango, with 61 of 65 booths now counted, incumbent Deb Frecklington has extended her lead to 47.18 per cent of all votes counted. Final results are expected by Monday, February 9.

* * *

 

Electoral Commission Queensland Callide election results Nanango election results

* * *

At The LNP Victory Party

LNP candidate Deb Frecklington, campaign volunteers and supporters gathered at the Red Ant Clubhouse in Kingaroy for the anxious wait on Saturday night as results from individual booths started to trickle in.

They were joined by TV crews from Channel 9 and ABC-TV plus a Courier-Mail reporter and photographer, emphasising the fact that the eyes of the State were on the seat of Nanango.

As the evening wore on and it became more obvious that Mrs Frecklington had been re-elected, the mood from supporters in the room turned to jubilation, although it became more sombre when TV commentary made it clear Campbell Newman had lost his seat, and the LNP may not win sufficient seats to form government.

 

* * *

Around The Booths

[Originally published as “It’s Time To Vote”, “Polling Booths Now Closed”, “Votes Start To Flow In” and “Voters Back Local MPs”]