Labor frontbencher Meaghan Scanlon will put her political future at risk to recontest the Gold Coast electorate of Gaven.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old Shadow Attorney-General \u2013 who has been called the next generation Labor leader \u2013 won Gaven with a wafer-thin margin at the 2024 state election. <\/p>\n
This year\u2019s controversial boundary redistribution turned the seat into one that should be easily won by the LNP in 2028. <\/p>\n
It sets up a blockbuster political showdown between the LNP, One Nation and the woman touted as a future Labor leader. <\/p>\n
The redrawing of the Gaven electorate to include the conservative stronghold suburbs of Merrimac and Guanaba has changed the seat to be notionally held by the LNP on a healthy 3.9 per cent margin.<\/p>\n
After weeks of consideration, Ms Scanlon revealed she would resist calls from colleagues and party elders to retreat to a safer Labor seat and instead fight to win Gaven for a fourth time.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy focus is on winning, and I genuinely do think it\u2019s possible,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people who wanted me to, or thought that I should, move to a different seat, but I just couldn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up here \u2026 my parents owned a small business around the corner here and I just increasingly was hearing stories from people coming into my office who were really struggling.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t leave people who put their trust in me when I was just 24 and I owe it to them to stay and fight for issues that they really care about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Opposition Leader Steven Miles will use Saturday\u2019s Queensland Labor State Conference to announce Ms Scanlon\u2019s decision to \u201cstay and fight\u201d in the only Gold Coast electorate held by the party.<\/p>\n
The timing of the announcement is aimed at corralling members and injecting energy into a Labor Party struggling against the LNP government. <\/p>\n
Polling indicates Labor\u2019s primary vote has fallen 7.6 per cent since the October 2024 election to 25 per cent. <\/p>\n
The LNP has also fallen 7.5 per cent as the major parties fight a surging One Nation. <\/p>\n
Asked if she had thought about the possibility of losing her seat, Ms Scanlon remained optimistic. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery election I have been underestimated, and pretty much every election people have said that I\u2019m going to lose and I\u2019ve never gone in thinking that,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
Speculation about Ms Scanlon\u2019s future has been ripe since the Queensland Redistribution Commission handed down its draft report in March.<\/p>\n
The inclusion of Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie\u2019s Director-General John Sosso on the commission prompted criticism from the opposition and corruption buster Tony Fitzgerald for his links to the LNP.<\/p>\n
Mr Sosso, who is not accused of wrongdoing, was one of three members on the panel alongside chairman, retired District Court Judge Gregory Koppenol, and Electoral Commissioner of Queensland Pat Vidgen. <\/p>\n
Ms Scanlon said she had moved on from the controversial appointment of Mr Sosso.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously not great to see the margin change and we said a lot about the process at the time \u2013 I\u2019ve kind of made peace with it all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just focused on doing everything in my power to win this seat because it\u2019s the only seat on the Gold Coast that we hold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching some of these, frankly, lazy LNP MPs sit on fat margins and do nothing for this city has only motivated me more to run.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labor frontbencher Meaghan Scanlon will put her political future at risk to recontest the Gold Coast electorate 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