By TANIA PHILLIPS
WHILE the rest of the country is waiting to see who will be the new Prime Minister – the seat of Maranoa seems to have been secured by Southern Downs-based politician David Littleproud of the Liberal National Party, polling 47.5 per cent on the first preferences.
With 72.5 per cent of the votes counted, Mr Littleproud looks set to take over from retiring National MP Bruce Scott.
The Liberal National Party candidate has 65.7 per cent of the vote in the preference count ahead of Labor’s Dave Kerrigan with 34.4 per cent. However, Labor recorded a swing of 6.6 per cent.
“I’m truly humbled to be given the responsibility of representing the people of Maranoa in Canberra, so of course I’m delighted with the outcome,” Mr Littleproud said yesterday.
“There were 119 booths across Maranoa and we manned them all, so I’m grateful to those who volunteered. A big thanks need to also go to my campaign manager Phil Sturgess who worked tirelessly.”
The new MP will have to wait to find out if his party will be in office or be on the Opposition benches.
“To some extent, I’m using the time to catch up on some sleep and spend some time with my three boys,” he said.
“Once I know, I’ll finailse staff and then basically set to work on the priorities that need my attention such as telecommunications, roads and the inland rail.
Mr Littleproud said he wasn’t surprised with the swing to Labor.
“Not really, the dishonest Medicare campaign Labor ran scared a lot of people particularly the elderly, and it was obvious it was cutting through,” he said.
