THE push for a separate state in North Queensland is again on the agenda with Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan today announcing his party's statehood policy.
Mr Costigan said should his party North Queensland First win the balance of power at the October 31 election, he would push for a referendum to be held in November 2022, with the view to forming a new state in 2024.
While the area of Australia's seventh state is yet to be defined, Mr Costigan said it would include areas of Central, North and Far North Queensland.
His personal preference is for the coastal border to be at the mouth of Baffle Creek, between Bundaberg and Gladstone with the western boundary extending south of Longreach and Boulia to the Northern Territory border.
Dubbing the area 'the reef state,' Mr Costigan said residents who were sick of getting the scraps left after south-east Queensland is prioritised, should get on board.
"It's the most comprehensive and details plan for separation in generations, but it can only happen if North Queensland First secures the balance of power at the state election," Mr Costigan said.
The announcement drew criticism from long time separate state advocate and Katter's Australian Party leader Robbie Katter who branded Mr Costigan a 'hypocrite.'
He said Mr Costigan's announcement to create a separate state was the height of hypocrisy after he blocked the KAP's attempts to fund a study into the idea when he was a member of the LNP.
In 2018, Mr Katter invited MPs and mayors north of Rockhampton to sign a request to the Premier to fund an independent investigation into the creation of a new NQ state and formulate a secession plan, but both major parties ultimately rejected the move.
The KAP's attempts were also met with flippant remarks from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the time that a separate state would cause a lot of problems with State of Origin.
"We're glad to see Mr Costigan has finally joined the KAP in calling for a new NQ state, it's only a pity that he wasn't on our wavelength a couple of years age when he, along with the LNP including the Member for Burdekin, blocked our attempts to secure funding for a feasibility study into the proposal," Mr Katter said.
