WITH the State election called and only 23 days until polling, Member for Dalrymple Shane Knuth is ready to go in for the fight – for a new electorate, no less.
After the distribution of the electorate boundaries, Mr Knuth, KAP, will now be running for the new electorate of Hill, which encompasses both coastal and inland country in northern Queensland including Innisfail, Atherton, and Tully.
He’ll go head to head with local Tully farmer and LNP candidate Mario Quagliata.
Mr Knuth said he was feeling confident heading into the election, and is leading with one strong message that “the people will come before crocs”.
“Obviously you never know until the bell rings,” he said of entering another election.
“This is my sixth election, and the last five I have somehow got over the line against the odds.
“When you pick up 19,000 extra constituents that is going to make it difficult, but I believe I am making headway and getting outcomes for this new region.”
He said the KAP were clear and strong on their belief that no one party would govern alone.
“We obviously believe that no one party will govern in their own right and no doubt about it that they will have to form government with One Nation or the Katter’s Australia Party after this election has been finalised,” he said. “We are pressing hard to ensure primary industries are a vital aspect.”
Personally, Mr Knuth is adamant he will continue to push for a fair milk logo, among other things.
This is my sixth election, and the last five I have somehow got over the line.
- Shane Knuth, KAP
“I still want to see a fair milk logo put on our milk bottles, and an appeal process for primary producers who have been rejected by the departments to clear their land, and affordable power,” he said.
He labelled the redistribution of electorate lines as a “new beginning”.
”It is a new chapter, and already I was able to help deliver in those regions that I've picked up,” he said. “That was with things such as the sugar marketing bill that provided extra security for the cane growers, the ethanol mandate, and (I have been able to) help out with general issues ... and funding for roads in that region.”
CANDIDATES FOR HILL:
- Shane Knuth, KAP
- Mario Quagliata, LNP
- Johanna Kloot, Greens
Queensland Labor State Secretary Evan Moorhead said “an announcement about Labor’s candidate for Hill will be made shortly”.