James Lister has moved out of the doldrums of opposition into the high beam focus of a new LNP-led state government. The win coincides with James and Belinda Lister expecting their fourth child in only a few weeks time.
“I want to especially thank her and our kids Jeremy, William and Amelia for their love and support”, Mr Lister said, giving an extra nod to his wife.
Federal Member and National Party leader David Littleproud who covers the same territory (and more) federally was quick to congratulate Mr Lister. “James ran a campaign on common sense, focusing on crime and cost of living, including defending jobs and Mllmerran’s coal-fired power station.” Mr Littleproud didn't point out that there was one differnece: the state campaign explicitly did not support the nuclear line that the federal opposition is running.
Just over 30,000 votes were cast in the Southern Downs on Saturday, with Mr Lister receiving 15871 of those or 53.84 percent. Liz Suduk (One Nation) and Greg Johnson (Labor) ran a tight race with Ms Suduk narrowly beating the Labor candidate by a narrow 81 votes with 79.23 of the votes counted at time of writing. Numbers are based on the unofficial preliminary count at the time of writing.
Family First candidate Melinda Keller attracted the lowest number of votes at 1124 with Queensland Greens candidate David Newport garnering the support of 1625 residents of the Southern Downs.
Not everyone seemed to be keen on any candidate with 1128 informal votes cast, or 3.69 percent of the voting population of the Southern Downs. Enrolment in the shire stands at 38,635.
Coming second in the primary vote, commented Liz Suduk (One Nation) was a “huge achievement for any minor party.”
Ms Suduk says she will “watch with interest” what happens in the shire over the next four years. “I am really pleased with the campaign we ran and the support I received, filling every booth on polling day, and three locations of pre poll for two weeks. That’s over 400 hours of volunteer work on pre-poll in Goondiwindi, Stanthorpe and Warwick that I received from dedicated people who were keen for change. Over 200 hours of volunteer work on polling day itself.”
“Well done, Liz”, Greg Johnson told The Town & Country Journal. “I congratulate her on such great numbers.” The Labor candidate on his part was unsurprised that Mr Lister won and congratulated him.
Mr Lister expressed his gratitude to the residents of the Southern Downs and for the “bigger than ever” vote he received, adding that he “ran an honest and positive campaign which focused on the things which everyone has been raising with me as I get around.”
Mr Lister picked up a whopping 80 percent of the Goondiwindi early votes (1831) and took 75 percent of the Allora vote (437). Stanthorpe’s early voters easily put Lister ahead. Warwick West and Toobeah polling booths were coolest on Mr Lister although both went strongly in his favour.
Johnson, by contrast, attracted 453 votes in Goondiwindi and 1373 in early voting in Stanthorpe.
“And now it’s back to work,” concluded the returning – and expectant – MP James Lister.
Out of the shadows:
James Lister will now, for the first time as the member for the Southern Downs, be part of the government rather than in opposition. Having the full support of government will make a difference to the electorate, and Mr Lister is “very pleased”.
“It will make it easier for me to get the things done we need here and to make sure that our voice in Southern Downs is listened to,” he told the paper.
Non-vote votes:
The polling booth that won the most informal, or unacceptable, votes went to Stanthorpe’s early voters (198) .Postal voters posted informal votes in 64 cases. Goondiwindi early voters refused to vote properly on 56 ballots. The next most disaffected voting booth was Millmeran (52).
