General News
18 October, 2024
And they’re off!
The race for Condamine is underway with incumbent Pat Weir facing off against two Oakey candidates, a Toowoomba sports bar owner and an unknown challenger.
The candidates met at the Drayton pre-polling place, where the ballot draw was conducted.
Pat Weir was first elected as MP for Condamine in 2015, and served as Shadow Resources Minister in the Opposition until a Cabinet reshuffle in December 2023.
Originally a farmer from Cecil Plains, he is looking for his fourth term in Queensland’s Parliament.
Mr Weir is interested in making sure Condamine’s police quotas are filled and looking after the agricultural sector locally.
Ellisa Parker is running for Condamine for the first time, having previously run at the Council elections and in the Federal seat of Maranoa at the 2022 election.
Ms Parker is the President of Oakey Neighbourhood Watch, and wants to see Queensland totally free of carbon emissions by 2035.
Alan Hughes was formerly a farmer at Yalangur, but has since moved to Oakey in retirement.
A practising Christian and active volunteer in Oakey, Mr Hughes put up his hand to ensure that family values are represented.
Ben Whibley-Faulkner is the owner and operator of the Tailgate Sports Bar in Toowoomba.
Living in Wyreema with his wife, Mr Whibley-Faulkner is particularly interested in education and making sure mining royalties are protected under the next Government.
Little is known about Clay Harland, but the One Nation candidate is understood to be an advocate of gun owners rights.
When voting, your ballot will look like this:
1. WEIR, Pat
2. PARKER, Ellisa
3. WHIBLEY-FAULKNER,
Ben
4. HARLAND, Clay
5. HUGHES, Alan
Voters in the localities of Cooyar, Maclagan, Narko, Highgrove, Nutgrove and Wutul will vote in the Nanango electorate.
There, former LNP leader Deb Frecklington is seeking a fifth term in parliament against seven candidates, including spiritualist church minister Val Heward for Labor and engineer Adam Maslen for One Nation.
Your voting options
While the opportunity to cast a vote via post for this month’s State Election has now closed, Pre-polling is open at Oakey Uniting Church.
Pre-polling is open Monday to Friday from 8am-6pm and you can vote for your electorate in any one of 200 early voting centres.
There are three locations in the Condamine electorate where you can pre-poll during the same time period, these being.
- Pittsworth, at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, on the corner of 30 Hume and 18 Murray Streets.
- Crows Nest, at the QCWA Hall, 7 Thallon Street.
- Drayton, at the sheds on 34 Sowden Street.
If you are in the Nanango electorate, you are eligible to vote in these pre-polling locations as well.
Telephone voting
Certain voters are eligible to vote by telephone (otherwise known as ‘electronically assisted voting’). You need to contact the ECQ to register.
Telephone voting will be available between Monday 14 October and election day, Saturday 26 October 2024.
