A COUPLE of emails arrived in my inbox last week from the Greens which declared their candidates have been ratified for the seats of Ipswich, Ipswich West and Bundamba at the State Election on October 26.
Local Greens spokesperson Danielle Mutton said the party was running to win up to 10 seats and break apart the two-party system forever in Queensland.
My first thought was good luck with that. But is it far-fetched to think the party could go from two to 10 elected representatives in the Queensland Parliament?
Incumbency for Labor means the pendulum naturally starts to swing towards the other side of politics.
I’ll go out on a limb 13 weeks before the state election and say Lance McCallum (Bundamba), Jennifer Howard (Ipswich) and Charis Mullen (Jordan) will be safely returned but likely with reduced margins.
The seat up for grabs is Ipswich West. The strong showing by the LNP’s Darren Zanow at the by-election in March reflected the mood of the electorate at the time coinciding with a popular high-profile candidate. The recent health announcement from Zanow forcing him to retire means the LNP will lose momentum and the name recognition he brought to their campaign.
It’s not unusual for the government of the day to get a kick in the pants from voters at a by-election. In March it was Ipswich West voters sending the proverbial message to Labor to do better.
Labor’s Wendy Bourne may be down but is certainly not out after that shock result. Bourne has been making the most of every day since her defeat and is determined to win the hearts of voters in October.
The Greens candidate for Ipswich West is Mark Delaney while the LNP has announced Georgia Toft to replace Zanow.
Ipswich West will be the local seat to watch.
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