THE POLL BLUDGER
Queensland Legislative Assembly Election 2006

THURINGOWA
Labor 7.9%

Thuringowa includes the western outskirts of Townsville and an unusual narrow appendage pointing southwards into the Townsville suburbs of Condon and Kelso. The latter area leans slightly more to Labor than the former. The electorate was created when the redistribution conducted before the 1986 election reduced the electorate of Townsville to the city centre. In 1998 it was one of 11 seats to fall to One Nation, whose candidate Ken Turner polled 34.9 per cent to Labor incumbent Ken McElligott's 35.1 per cent and rode home on Coalition and other preferences, prevailing by 6.6 per cent on two-party preferred. McElligott, who had been member for Townsville from 1983 to 1986 and member for Thuringowa since, had in fact announced his intention to retire in 1996. However, the candidate they nominated in his place, Karen Ehrmann, had to withdraw four days before the 1998 election was called after she was charged (and later imprisoned) with electoral fraud. This followed an Australian Federal Police investigation sparked by a leak of incriminating documents to the Liberals, an episode which culminated in the Shepherdson inquiry in late 2000 and early 2001. Given his background as a former Health Minister hung out to dry by Wayne Goss as a travel rorts scapegoat, McElligott did his party a fine service by agreeing to run in Ehrmann's place, and was presumably not too distraught by his failure. Ken Turner quit One Nation in February 1999 and went into the 2001 election as an independent, doing pretty well to hold 25.8 per cent of the vote but losing the seat to Labor's Anita Phillips by 3.6 per cent after preferences. Phillips stood aside at the 2004 election to make an unsuccessful bid to win Herbert at the October 9 federal election and was replaced by Craig Wallace (right), who had also come to the attention of the Shepherdson inquiry. This did not seem to bother the voters, who added 3.8 per cent to Labor's primary vote.

Craig Wallace was formerly executive officer to Townsville mayor Tony Mooney, and is accordingly linked with the AWU/Labor Forum faction. It was in aid of Mooney's preselection for the 1996 Mundingburra by-election that Karen Ehrmann alleged he enrolled at a house where he had only ever stayed for one night. Other witnesses testified otherwise, and the inquiry did not make advice findings against Wallace. Malcolm Weatherup of the Townsville Bulletin reports that the popular choice for Nationals candidate in local branches was David Moyle, a Thuringowa councillor who polled 12.8 per cent as an independent in 2004. However, Moyle had reportedly been "a tad undiplomatic with some of the influential heavies around the place", and the party hierarchy thwarted him by imposing former RAAF serviceman Ron Hardacre (left). This was despite the fact that Hardacre receives a TPI pension and, the Bulletin's Emma Chadwick reports, could be facing a Department of Veterans' Affairs investigation as a result of his nomination.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain