Newly minted Member for Nicklin Rob Skelton is the first Labor MP to represent the area in 100 years.

The last Labor representative was Andrew Thompson whose vast Wide Bay electorate took in the region when he was MP from 1918-20.

Not surprisingly Mr Skelton received some special attention from his party with visits from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Treasurer Cameron Dick on Monday, following last week’s media conference with former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

“It’s a pleasure to be here today with the Treasurer and the brand new declared member for Nicklin Rob Skelton,” the Premier said in Woombye. “It’s been a century since the people of this area have entrusted Labor to represent them and I have every confidence that Rob will work very hard for the people.

“Rob said to me he’s travelled some 6000km, I think, during this campaign and wore out a couple of boots and I know that he will work incredibly hard every single day to uphold the commitment to the people of this wonderful area.”

Mr Skelton said he was honoured to think he’d changed history.

“It’s quite bizarre,” he said. “Quite a surreal feeling I must admit. That being said, we have a job to do, as the Premier outlined. We’ve committed $550 million to the B2N (Beerwah to Nambour Rail) corridor. We’ve got the Bruce Highway upgrades happening. The hospital upgrade is happening. Nambour Police Station is being rebuilt. We’ve got a mobile HQ and more officers coming. We’ve got the Burnside State School performing arts hall to encourage the kids in the creative arts. We’ve also got money allocated to Nambour State College for access for people with disabilities.”

Asked whether he was overwhelmed by the prospect of a new job in a diverse electorate Mr Skelton admitted it was a lot to get his head around. But he had already travelled the length and breadth of the electorate while campaigning.

The Premier said the win sent an ominous warning to the LNP. “Because this was once National Party heartland,” she said. “This is a very strong signal to the LNP that the Liberals are consuming the National Party.”

Ms Palaszczuk said she would not be surprised to see the LNP split or the Nationals be consumed by the Liberal Party.

The seat was recently held by former independent MP Peter Wellington, before the LNP’s Marty Hunt won it in 2017.