A Former LNP MP Wants To Break North QLD Away As Its Own State & Look, It’s Good To Have Goals

Former state LNP MP Jason Costigan is hedging his entire political career on making North Queensland its own state, which would basically be regular Queensland minus Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

Costigan has been the member for Whitsunday since 2012 and was even a shadow minister until he was expelled from the LNP last year for allegedly harassing a woman, a claim which he denied at the time and which the woman withdrew and apologised for this year.

Anyway, that’s how the self-scribed “NQ-separatist” ended up in his own party, aptly named North Queensland First. According to the party’s constitution, their first priority is to “promote and deliver self-government and statehood for North Queensland.”

“There’s a difference in people, people in Brisbane have more in common with Sydney people than people in Airlie Beach for example,” Costigan told News.com.au.

He added that the battlers up in North Queensland just want to “shoot crocodiles and burn coal” without being bothered by the uppity city folk of, say, Surfers Paradise.

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It’s one of those big political ideas which has been floating around since at least 1852. There’s probably a good reason that it hasn’t eventuated by now.

Aside from their weird obsession with burning coal, one of their more serious proposals is to keep the money generated from northern Queensland’s natural resources in northern Queensland itself.

“We believe we’re entitled to much more than what is happening from royalties stemming from the export of our minerals, especially coal, base metals, gas and petroleum from ports such as Gladstone, Hay Point, Abbot Point and Townsville,” the party’s website says.

A North Queensland secession wouldn’t look like an armed revolution. Instead, Costigan is hopeful of holding a referendum sometime this year which he reckons will go down a treat with his constituents.

The alternative, he reckons, is waiting for a “civil war” to break out.

Artist’s impression.

If this whole thing sounds like a ripoff of Bob Katter‘s tired schtick, you’d be right.

When the party was formed last year, Robbie Katter, who runs the state politics wing of his dad’s party, had this to say: “We can all talk a big game but it is about who will have a seat in Parliament.”

Katter’s Australian Party currently has three seats in the Queensland state parliament.

The Queensland election is on October 31 (spooky!). Aside from picking up new seats, the chances of Costigan retaining his own seat are still up in the air.

At the last election he was only a hair ahead of Labor, and One Nation also had a strong showing.

Northern Queenslanders are really gonna have to want to shoot crocs for Costigan to have a hope of winning.

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