As the line-up on the Leichhardt ballot paper takes shape, Katter’s Australian Party says its “preselection process remains ongoing” amid speculation the party was only intending to run patriarch and maverick MP Bob Katter in the House of Representatives. Photo: Facebook (Bob Katter).
A former basketballer, paramedic, university adviser, pastor and artist, and chemical supply specialist are amongst the list of candidate professions as the ballot paper for Leichhardt begins to take shape ahead of the federal election.
But with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese set to call the election within weeks, some minor parties are still scrambling to announce candidates in the wake of those already on the campaign trail.
To date, six candidates have been unveiled in the battle for the 150,000 square kilometre seat heats up – Matt Smith for Labor, Jeremy Neal for the Liberal National Party, Phillip Musumeci for the Greens, One Nation’s Rob Hicks, Les Searle for Family First, and independent Munganbana Norman Miller.
One of the minor parties yet to roll out the corflutes for a candidate is Katter’s Australian Party (KAP), which says it is committed to fielding a Leichhardt runner amid speculation it was going to focus its energy on the Senate.
Several party sources have told Cape York Weekly KAP was contemplating only running patriarch and maverick Kennedy MP Bob Katter for the House of Representatives, and instead focusing on the Senate and increasing its footprint in the Queensland Parliament.
“It defies all common sense if you only run Bob in the lower house and then still call yourself a national party,” one source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, suggested.
“What’s the ‘A’ [in KAP] meant to stand for if we aren’t trying to represent as much of Australia as we can?”
However, a KAP spokesperson said the party was in the process of finalising which candidates would fly its flag on lower house ballot papers.
“Our preselection process remains ongoing,” the spokesperson said.
“We are determined to give more Queenslanders a real alternative to the major parties who consistently ignore North Queensland and rural Australia.”
It remains to be seen whether Clive Palmer’s new Trumpet of Patriots (TOP) – which many political observers have branded merely a more right-wing reboot of his failed United Australia Party – will field a candidate in the fight to replace retiring MP Warren Entsch.
The TOP website does not show any candidates, but has a link asking people to register their interest in being an election runner for the party.
Expressions of interest for being a TOP candidate closed on 7 March.
At the 2022 federal election, 11 candidates appeared on the Leichhardt ballot paper.
