By JONATHON HOWARD
CAPTION: John Bjelke-Petersen will contest the federal seat of Maranoa for the Palmer United Party.
THE son of former Queensland premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen insists he can win one of the Coalition’s safest seats at the September Federal Election.
The “Joh for Canberra” campaign never succeeded in the 1980s, but his son John is having another tilt at Federal pParliament.
John Bjelke-Petersen, son of former Queensland premier Sir Joh and former federal senator Lady Flo, is running for Clive Palmer’s new party.
It will be his fourth bid at becoming a parliamentarian.
He insists he can win the southwest Queensland seat of Maranoa from LNP veteran Bruce Scott, who’s held it since 1991.
Mr Bjelke-Petersen says the seat – which takes in the family heartland of Kingaroy – is a “forgotten” electorate that’s being ignored by the LNP.
“It’s a very safe conservative seat. The Coalition thinks ‘we’ll get in no matter what’ so they won’t do anything for the people here,” he told AAP on Friday.
Mr Bjelke-Petersen admits it won’t be easy to overcome Mr Scott’s 23 per cent margin.
“Rather than sit on your backside and complain about it, you need to stand up and provide people with an option,” he said.
“Unless you try you never know.”
Nationals senator Barnaby Joyce was expected to run for the seat until 69-year-old Mr Scott decided he would re-contest.
Senator Joyce has now decided to take on independent MP Tony Windsor for the NSW seat of New England.
Mr (John) Bjelke-Petersen recently quit the LNP because he felt the party had ignored regional Queensland.
Bob Katter’s Australian Party will also run a candidate for Maranoa but has not yet chosen a candidate.
“We looked at John but we decided to go elsewhere – no disrespect to the Bjelke-Petersen family, who we greatly respect,” Mr Katter said in a statement.
