THE voting landscape for the electors of Gregory became clearer following weekend announcements of candidates by both the Liberal National Party and the Australian Labor Party.
Advisor to Agriculture Minister John McVeigh and former ABC rural reporter, Lachlan Millar will carry the fortunes of the LNP in Gregory at the forthcoming state election while Barcaldine Indigenous leader Cheryl Thompson will do the same for the ALP.
Selected from a group of five which included graziers Sean Dillon, Alpha, Andrew Martin, Tambo and Jack Piggott, Springsure, and Barcaldine Regional councillor and bookmaker Gary Peoples, Mr Millar was chosen by a postal plebiscite of Gregory LNP members.
According to state president Bruce McIver, he impressed local members with his passion for central and western Queensland and commitment to continue the hard work of current MP, Vaughan Johnson.
Although living on the Sunshine Coast at present, Mr Millar, 43, hails from the Emerald region, moving there with his family from Goondiwindi in the late 1970s, where they drew a block in the Emerald irrigation area.
He credits his 10 years with the ABC’s rural department with giving him a “grounding on the important issues impacting agriculture and regional communities”.
He moved on to help establish the Fitzroy Basin Food and Fibre group to protect water rights for irrigators and then to work for the National Party when it was in opposition, under Mike Horan and Lawrence Springborg.
Cheryl Thompson traces her ancestry to the Iningai people of the Desert Uplands along the Alice River.
She grew up in Barcaldine, moving to Brisbane in 1988 to study teaching at Griffith University.
Last year she reopened her parents’ café on Barcaldine’s main street, and has also established a youth hostel for Indigenous students with trifold aims of bringing 100 per cent school attendance, a work ethic and training in hospitality, and improving financial independence.
Ms Thompson wasn’t able to be contacted for comment on Sunday.
The pair will join Jericho grazier Bruce Currie on the ballot paper.
Mr Currie stood as an independent in the 2012 election, receiving 3.67 per cent of the vote, and he has announced his intention to stand again in 2015.
While none of the other parties have announced candidates for the seat yet, LNP state president Bruce McIver is understood to have told the Gregory Electoral Council the seat can no longer be considered safe.
Sally Cripps
Journalist
Journalist
