Campaigning candidates have say on key Cook issues

With the 2024 Queensland general election now only 40 days away, Cape York Weekly asked each of the five candidates vying to represent Cook for the next four years about how their campaigns were shaping up, and what the main issue Cape York and Torres Strait residents had raised with them.

We know political aspirants have a tendency for verbosity, so we asked each candidate, in their own words, to answer the following two questions:

1. What’s your campaign looking like less than 50 days out from 26 October and how much time will you be spending on Cape York/Torres Strait between now and election day?

2. Since announcing your candidacy and hitting the campaign trail, what is the single biggest issue Cape York/Torres Strait electors have flagged with you?

Independent Thursday Island-based candidate Yen Loban did not provide a response to Cape York Weekly.

Peter Campion – One Nation

Question 1

An honest political candidate is rarer than a tourist with ACT plates who knows how to drive on dirt, so the Cape York Weekly’s readers will be shocked when I admit my campaign ran out of fuel before it left the bitumen.

Unlike the ALP and LNP, One Nation has no mega donors and every candidate is self-funded. I’m a superannuation pensioner and money is a huge challenge with Labor’s skyrocketing inflation. An unexpected $10,000 vet’s bill ripped a gaping hole in my campaign fuel tank right at the start.

Fortunately, voters know One Nation and don’t need me on their doorstep.

Question 2

It’s hard to say which is the single biggest issue being discussed in Cook, because there’s so many big issues after more than a century of neglect by the state and federal Labor-Liberal uniparty.

The Peninsula Developmental Road is a big issue in the north, while juvenile crime is a bigger worry further south. The cost of living, the housing crisis, the price of fuel and electricity, government inefficiency and incompetence, crumbling bridges and infrastructure, and transferring our right to make decisions about our land to the faceless and unelected bureaucrats at the UN through World Heritage listing have all been mentioned.

Cynthia Lui – Labor

Question 1

This past few months has looked much like the past seven years of my terms as the member – listening, visiting my communities, talking to people about what is important to them, meeting with mayors, health workers, arts workers, youth workers, business owners, dropping in to the community stores, talking to people in person and on the phone, and advocating hard and strong for Cook. I will continue to maximise the time I spend in communities throughout Cape York and Torres Strait. I will have visited most of the 15 local government areas in Cook at least once in the few months prior to the election.

Question 2

Cost of living was the biggest issue in Cape York and Torres Strait when I announced my candidacy, and it is still the biggest issue raised. Higher living costs for people in remote communities in Cook are, as we know up here, tied to the tyranny of distance and I don’t think that’s fair. That is why I am, have, and continue to, advocate strongly for outcomes that reduce the impact of high freight costs, and improve our land and sea transport infrastructure. This month, Cape and Torres residents should feel the relief of the 20 per cent discount at the check-out. And I’m pleased to have been able to announce the state government’s funding commitment for the Cape York Region stage three package.

Duane Amos – Katter’s Australian Party

Question 1

I have lived and travelled extensively in Cape York. Since announcing, I have over 4,200km of vehicle travel in the Cook electorate, notwithstanding the number of flights into Cape communities and conducting meetings in Cairns and Mareeba when constituents are out of the Cape. I have invested heavily in listening to the voice of Cape York and attending community events to engage with locals, even calling out the State Government freight subsidy through my social media, which resulted in an increase to 20 per cent. Next week, I will be in Torres Strait with Bob Katter and I have travelled with Rob Katter to communities ensuring constituents have direct contact with sitting members of state and federal Parliament.

Question 2

The diversity of Cook is complex and varies markedly with the differing needs for each area. This is why it requires a member who travels, engages and invests heavily in discussion at all levels of government and community members to ensure each community has a voice. Water security and the ageing infrastructure has resonated across a number of areas, freight costs are impacting cost of living, road conditions are consistently raised, but so is access to housing for both community and government/NGO providers servicing remote areas.

I can honestly say I have a long list of items from the volume of travel and engagement I have invested in to establish a true picture of the needs of the Cook electorate.

David Kempton – Liberal National Party

Question 1

Cook is a very large and diverse electorate the size and shape of Victoria. Since my preselection in May 2024, I have been working from the bottom up and, by the end of this week, will have visited most towns and communities south of Weipa at least once. Within the next fortnight, I will have visited every community all the way to Torres Strait. I have been to most of the major events but have been far more involved in conversations with residents, businesses and elected representatives to hear their views.

Question 2

The single biggest message from all the people I have talked to is they want a strong, experienced and committed member of Parliament who will stand up for them. The biggest issue for me should I be elected is the terrible state of the roads throughout the entire electorate. I will establish a regional roads advisory group to determine all transport and road issues, priorities and funding and ensure there is no more waste on cost over runs, cassowary bridges and cameras, and our roads are safe and trafficable.