Mayor Clare Stewart was officially endorsed last Sunday as LNP’s candidate to contest the seat of Noosa at the next State election on 26 October 2024 only days after Noosa Today revealed the intended move of Cr Stewart from mayor to state election candidate.
Cr Stewart spoke of her fears of living with increasing crime and health care inadequacies as well as concerns of housing shortages as among her reasons for putting her hand up for state election when she was introduced at a press conference by state opposition leader David Crisafulli.
“We have increased crime. We have seen terrible, terrible incidents in Noosa with the murder of someone on Hastings Street and a stabbing more recently,” Cr Stewart said.
“We have seen houses broken into.
“We need a hospital that needs a lot more infrastructure.
“We see people without homes.
“We need more police. All these basic things we need.
“I’m the mother of three small children and daughter of two ageing parents. This decision was also personal. How much confidence do I have in our current health care system. How quickly will that ambulance need to come for my parents?
“How safe do I want the streets that my children walk on to be?
“How secure are we each night when I put my three children to bed in our own home.
“How safe are we? These are all questions that I have thought about.
“The other issue addressing Noosa is housing. We are in a housing crisis. It has to be mandatory that each Queenslander no matter their age or stage of life deserves a place to call home and a roof over their heads.”
“Local issues facing Noosa are similar to those right across Queensland.
“I couldn’t sit on the sidelines and bemoan the ineffectiveness of the current state government. I had to be part of the solution.”
LNP leader Mr Crisafulli described the issues raised by Cr Stewart as “alarming revelations” that all Queenslanders “will look … and quite frankly feel horrified”.
“Whether its weak laws for youth crime or whether its international crime syndicates what people want to see is more police on the streets, they want to know the laws are there to protect them right across their every day life,” he said.
“Increasingly when I listen to Queenslanders the issue of law and order is at the top of their list. They want to make sure they feel safe in their every day of their life.”
Mr Crisafulli said after becoming opposition leader he was “keen to chart a new generation of candidates that would represent Queensland and be local champions”.
“Clare is well known to her community. She is local mayor, a barrister, a published author, a mother and a community champion,” he said.
“Clare is an incredibly inspiring woman, and I am humbled by her decision to join our state team ahead of next year’s election – I see it has a huge endorsement for our team’s unity and direction.
“Clare has overcome serious adversity to make a huge contribution to the Noosa community and her decision to now take that service even further proves she is a genuine community champion.
LNP state director Ben Riley said the party would continue to attract and support high-calibre candidates to represent communities across Queensland ahead of next year’s election.
Cr Stewart said she would continue on in the role of mayor until the council elections next March after which she plans to campaign full-time as LNP candidate for Noosa.
