Q&A with LNP Candidate for Nicklin and former Nicklin MP (2017-2020) Marty Hunt.

• How confident are you of winning?

I take nothing for granted and I’m working hard to talk to as many people across the electorate as I can to make sure we have the right priorities for them.  

• What are your top priorities for the Nicklin electorate if elected?

My top priorities are the priorities of the people I speak to across Nicklin.  They are telling me they no longer feel safe in their homes, and they no longer feel safe out shopping with the youth crime crisis and general unruly behaviour. 

Community safety is my top priority and we will legislate our “Making Queensland Safer” laws by Christmas if elected.  My other priorities are housing and cost of living.  To see people forced to live in tents across the Coast, people sleeping in cars, people not knowing where their next meal is coming from is heartbreaking.  We can do so much better than this for our community.  When I speak to local charities they are reporting unprecedented demand for their services.

• What do you see as the biggest issues facing Nicklin in particular?

The cost-of-living crisis is putting a strain on our community and residents. Businesses are doing it tough as people tighten their belts.  We need to ensure our power assets get back online to reduce power prices and make people feel safe to shop in town and support local businesses.

• What’s the main thing you have learned over the past four years?

Unfortunately, I’ve seen over the last four years increased rates of crime, increases in cost-of-living and a lack of housing which has pushed up rents. When Labor weakened the Youth Justice Act, to introduce detention as a last resort and no breach of bail offences, the LNP warned that those changes would result in more crime and more victims and, sadly, that’s exactly what has played out, particularly over the last four years.  

Labor refused to listen, and we are all living with the results. 

• What are you most proud of achieving in the past four years?

I was proud to return to front line policing after many years running the local PCYC in Nambour.  

To get back on the streets and help out the team was eye-opening and has changed a lot over the years.  The local police do a wonderful job and to be a part of that team and serve my community was something I was proud to do. 

• Why should people vote for you and not your opponents?

At the election people will ask themselves, with the last 10 years of Labor Government are we better off in relation to youth crime, housing, cost of living and access to health services?  

And, who has the right plan moving forward to address those areas?  

Only the LNP has The Right Priorities for Queensland’s Future and only a change of Government will ensure those priorities are addressed.