By Margaret Maccoll
Labor candidate Mark Denham believes the strong stance Annastacia Palaszczuk took on border closures to protect Queenslanders from Covid-19 helped deliver her return to office.
It was Mr Denham’s third run at the seat of Noosa and he hasn’t ruled out a fourth attempt.
He said he loved meeting with people in the community, discussing the issues important to them and working out what government can do for them.
Unlike his day job as a paramedic he’s not just seeing people at their worst.
Speaking at his election after party last Saturday night Mr Denham said he saw the fear of the pandemic in the faces of people in Noosa, particularly among the area’s ageing population.
Mr Denham said a lot of people got scared when the pandemic infected a cluster of people in Noosa.
“They do see the benefit of the border closures. They didn’t want it in Noosa,” he said.
Despite the initial impact on tourism of Covid-restrictions Mr Denham said it was clear Tourism Noosa’s marketing campaign aimed at the drive market had paid off with Queenslanders flowing in to holiday at home.
He said the State Government had greatly assisted the community financially during the event with relief payments and interest-free loans to small business.
“That’s what governments do,” he said. “Everyone loved it.”
Mr Denham found the campaign differed considerably this election with a heavier focus on social media contact.
The downside of social media was the trolling that occurred, he said.
In another change this time and in a bid to reduce waste on how-to-vote cards his team placed QR codes on his corflutes with how-to-vote instructions that people could just take a photo of on their iPhones.
Mr Denham will return to his paramedic job once the election is finalised in a couple of weeks. Having recently lost an incredible 30kg he looks forward to going back in a much healthier and more energetic state.
