Peter Slipper (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Premier of Queensland, Anna Bligh, after protesting for months that she was not going to call an early election, has called an election for 21 March. This is the debut election for the Liberal National Party, or LNP, which was created as a result of the overwhelming number of votes in favour of a merger between the former Liberal Party and the former National Party in the state of Queensland. I am privileged to represent what is possibly the best area in the country. People move from all over Australia to join us on the Sunshine Coast, and we have a key role to play in removing the Bligh Labor government from office. On the Sunshine Coast, we have the seat of Caloundra, held by the deputy LNP leader, Mark McArdle; Maroochydore, held by Fiona Simpson, a shadow minister; the new seat of Buderim, where the Kawana MP, shadow minister Steve Dickson, is moving because 60 per cent of Kawana has been placed in the new Buderim electorate; Noosa, held by Glen Elmes, for the LNP; and we have the electorates of Kawana and Glass House, following the redistribution, with new boundries. Also with new boundaries, is the seat of Nicklin.

I am very hopeful that we will be able to win the seats of Kawana and Glass House, in addition to the four seats we already hold. This will be a very important step forward with respect to removing Anna Bligh from government. I would like to commend the LNP candidate for Glass House, Andrew Powell, and the LNP candidate for Kawana, Jarrod Bleijie. They are two very impressive, hardworking, family men who are enthusiastic about their community. They have been chosen because we in the LNP believe that they are the right people to represent those areas in the Queensland parliament and to play a role in the new Springborg LNP government. Andrew Powell in Glass House is a married man with four children. He is the coach of his son’s soccer team, and he must be one of the fittest candidates in the Queensland election because he has doorknocked from the moment of his endorsement and he continues to do so. His wife, Taryn, and their children, Erin, Daniel, Brielle and Benjamin, support Andrew very strongly, and I am hopeful that we will see Andrew as the member for Glass House after the election.

Jarrod Bleijie is a Sunshine Coast solicitor. He has two small children, Taylor and Madison, and his wife, Sally, and they support him very strongly. He was very much involved in the former City of Caloundra before its abolition by the Queensland state Labor government when the Sunshine Coast Regional Council was formed last year. He was Caloundra Young Citizen of the Year and is involved in the community in many other ways. Jarrod Bleijie also has the capacity to make a big contribution to the future of Queensland under an LNP government. I hope that the LNP is successful. It is a big ask to win, given the number of seats required for victory. (Time expired)