THE battle for the vast seat of Burdekin is heating up ahead of the October 31 state election with fledgling political party North Queensland First naming a candidate.
Former Bowen tourism boss and school teacher Carolyn Moriarty will step up to the challenge to wrestle the seat away from the LNP.
Ms Moriarty, 54, who currently works for a human resources business in Clermont has a long establishment with the surrounding communites having lived on both inland and coastal parts of the region.
She will go up against sitting LNP Burdekin MP Dale Last, who is serving a second term after first being elected in January 2015.
The Burdekin has long been held by conservative members with National's then LNP MP Rosemary Menkens holding the seat from 2004 until her retirement in 2015.
Ms Moriarty joins Whitsunday MP and North Queensland First leader Jason Costigan, who established the new party after he was ejected from the LNP in February, 2019.
Mr Costigan said Ms Moriarty was the perfect candidate for NQ First.
"Whether you live in the canefields of the Burdekin or the coalfields of the Bowen Basin, Carolyn Moriarty will have no problem speaking up for you and your community because of her strong sense of community and connection to community," Mr Costigan said.
He said Ms Moriarty, whose community services includes volunteering in local rugby league circles, brought many life experiences to the table.
"As a mother, an educator and community minded person, Carolyn ticks all the boxes and in the coming weeks and months she will be increasingly across all of the issues facing the people of Burdekin, from Cungulla to Clermont and Clare to Collinsville."
Ms Moriarty is the party's third candidate, joining Mr Costigan and former Wujal Wujal mayor Desmond Tayley, who was announced as the NQ First candidate for Cook.
