Independent Thursday Island-based candidate Yen Loban has confirmed to Cape York Weekly his name will no longer appear on the ballot paper on 26 October after withdrawing his challenge for Cook. Photo: Supplied.
The race for Cook remains a five-horse affair following the announcement of a new candidate and withdrawal of another last week.
On 19 September, the Thursday Island-based health worker confirmed to Cape York Weekly he would no longer be one of the candidates attempting to unseat two-term MP Cynthia Lui when Cook residents voted at next month’s state election.
“I have advised the ECQ (Electoral Commission of Queensland) that I will not be nominating come October,” he said.
Mr Loban was the only independent candidate running and had built a campaign platform around cost of living pressures, health and local employment opportunities.
His withdrawal leaves Katter’s Australian Party’s Duane Amos, One Nation’s Peter Campion, recently-announced Greens candidate Troy Miller and former Liberal National Party Cook MP David Kempton as the runners attempting to stop incumbent MP Cynthia Lui securing a third term in office for Labor.
Ms Lui won the seat comfortably when Cook electors last went to the polls in 2020 with 56.26 per cent of two-party preferred votes from a field of eight candidates.
ECQ will be hoping for an improved informal vote result come 26 October after 4.31 per cent of ballot papers submitted in Cook in 2020 were deemed invalid, well above the overall state mark of 3.4 per cent.
Queensland Electoral Commissioner Pat Vidgen said ECQ was committed to providing an election that met the needs of electors after the organisation received sustained criticism over its handling of the state’s local government elections in March.
“Our focus is to continually refine and enhance our services, building on the learnings of past elections, including this year’s local government elections in March,” Mr Vidgen said
“Changes include extended early voting hours to match election day voting hours, an increase in election staff and vote issuing points in polling booths, to ensure the overall voting experience is streamlined and efficient.
“Voters will also be able to vote at any polling booth in Queensland, which is not the case under local government electoral legislation.”
