Karen Andrews's retirement opens up competition in Gold Coast seat of McPherson
The Gold Coast seat of McPherson has always been conservative.
But among the city's three long-held beachfront Liberal seats, it may have the greatest appetite for an alternative.
"Of all the seats on the Gold Coast, McPherson is the one where the Greens do particularly well," said former Queensland Labor politician John Mickel.
Stay updated:
Catch the latest interviews and in-depth coverage on
The Greens achieved 15.4 per cent of the vote in McPherson in the 2022 federal election, when the so-called teal independents had a national impact.
Karen Andrews served as home affairs minister in the Morrison government.
(
ABC News: Andrew Kennedy
)
But this election has come with the retirement of former home affairs minister Karen Andrews after 15 years representing the seat for the LNP.
Mr Mickel said independents could take advantage of her departure amid a broader swing
"I can understand why an independent is having a red hot go at it," said the political commentator and Queensland University of Technology adjunct associate professor.
Away from major parties
McPherson constituent Matilda Morgan said she usually voted for the Liberal Party.
But the 34-year-old artist said both major parties seemed "pretty much the same" ahead of this year's election.
Matilda Morgan paints at Currumbin Beach on the Gold Coast.
(
ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale
)
"They're saying the same things [but] in different words," she said.
Ms Morgan, who lives in her van, said she had not seen any radical change from the major parties.
"It's really hard to be a young person in this day and age when it comes to cost of living, inflation and finding work," she said.
Currumbin Beach is in the federal seat of McPherson.
(
ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale
)
Mr Mickel said Ms Morgan's age group had demonstrated
Photo shows
A young woman wears her blond hair tied up and a brown jumper as she smiles at the camera
While younger Australians are tuning out of politics, researchers say people aged in their 30s to early 40s are the most disengaged group.
With about 38 per cent of the McPherson electorate aged 15-44, he said it was a significant demographic.
"It is currently a death zone for the major parties," Mr Mickel said.
"This is a group, the younger groups, who are no longer attached to the major parties and look for alternatives.
"In McPherson this time, they've got plenty of them."
Housing in focus
Ms Morgan is the type of voter the LNP's Leon Robello and Climate 200 independent Erchana Murray-Bartlett are aiming to attract.
The two are among the highest-profile candidates in a busy field.
They both said housing was a key concern.
Leon Robello (left) takes a photo with volunteers at Palm Beach.
(
Supplied: Instagram
)
Mr Rebello, 29, said he recently bought his first home.
"In the last five years I've rented, I've bought my first home, I've gone through that and seen it from different perspectives and I understand the challenges," he said.
Read more about the federal election:
Want even more? Here's where you can find all our 2025
Ms Murray-Bartlett said she did not own a home in the electorate she wanted to represent.
"We need more affordable homes on the Gold Coast," said the ultra-marathon runner, who has leveraged her 39,000 Instagram followers during the campaign.
"I'm a renter on the Gold Coast, I don't own a home, and so making sure renters are just as looked after is just as important."
Erchana Murray-Bartlett is the Climate 200 independent candidate for McPherson.
(
Supplied: Instagram
)
Long list of candidates
They are among 12 candidates for McPherson, up from eight in the 2022 election.
Alongside independent Michelle Faye, the minor parties include One Nation, the Greens, Trumpet of Patriots, Legalise Cannabis, Animal Justice, the Libertarians, People First and Family First.
Photo shows
An election sign of Wil Anderson in a neighbourhood with a dog urinating on it with Gruen Nation Election edition and iview.
It's election season and politicians are trying to sell you the world. The team at Gruen isn't about to buy it. They're taking a big swing at the election, showing you how the democracy sausage is made, all the sizzle and none of the meat.
Griffith University associate professor of politics, Paul Williams, said the LNP should retain the seat easily but "might go backwards a couple of percentage points".
"There are four or five, what you'd call hard right, even far right candidates in that field," he said.
"They'll get a very small percentage of the vote but those preferences will filter up to the LNP."
Associate Professor Williams said many voters felt the major parties were not solving problems and that independents contesting safe seats such as McPherson had become the new norm.
"It's about flying the flag, it's about building support," he said.
Matilda Morgan paints at Currumbin Beach.
(
ABC Gold Coast: Dominic Cansdale
)
"You've got to start somewhere, you've got to take losses, you've got to build credibility."
Ms Morgan was skeptical of whether the shift away from major parties would make a difference.
"They'll do the election thing, but then does it actually make waves when they're elected?" she said.
Loading
Having trouble seeing this form? Try
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Perth Now
an hour ago
- Perth Now
AUKUS defence pact 'being reviewed' by US government
The US government is reportedly reviewing the AUKUS trilateral defence agreement between Australia, the UK and the US. The decision to conduct a review has been reported by multiple news outlets including Reuters, which cited US defence officials without giving further details. The review will reportedly examine whether the pact is in line with US President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy, according to the ABC which also cited a Pentagon source. AUKUS is a three-nation security alliance between Australia, the UK and the US agreed in 2021 under the prime ministership of ex-Liberal leader Scott Morrison. It was formed to counter China's strategic moves in the Pacific arena and was underpinned by an agreement between the US and the UK to provide Australia with access to nuclear-powered submarine technology, to eventually replace its aging Collins-class boats. The deal is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, although the first submarine is not expected to join the Australian fleet for years. Australia, which in February made the first of six $US500 million (about $800 million) payments to the US for the boats, is expected to initially buy between three and five off-the-shelf Virginia-class boats. At the time, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Mr Trump was supportive of the AUKUS deal. "The president is very aware, supportive of AUKUS," Mr Hegseth said after a meeting with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles. "(He) recognises the importance of the defence industrial base." Mr Marles responded that the pair had discussed how the US and Australia could advance their longstanding diplomatic relationship in terms of national security, including AUKUS. Australia's military budget is expected to rise to 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product, or output, by 2034. The US regime has already called for Australia to increase that spending to around 3.5 per cent. Australia tore up its $90 billion diesel-powered submarine deal with France to sign on to AUKUS and is contracted to buy several off-the-shelf submarines costing about $US4 billion each, before making its own. The first Australian-made boats are not due to be operational until the 2040s.
West Australian
an hour ago
- West Australian
AUKUS defence pact 'being reviewed' by US government
The US government is reportedly reviewing the AUKUS trilateral defence agreement between Australia, the UK and the US. The decision to conduct a review has been reported by multiple news outlets including Reuters, which cited US defence officials without giving further details. The review will reportedly examine whether the pact is in line with US President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy, according to the ABC which also cited a Pentagon source. AUKUS is a three-nation security alliance between Australia, the UK and the US agreed in 2021 under the prime ministership of ex-Liberal leader Scott Morrison. It was formed to counter China's strategic moves in the Pacific arena and was underpinned by an agreement between the US and the UK to provide Australia with access to nuclear-powered submarine technology, to eventually replace its aging Collins-class boats. The deal is worth hundreds of billions of dollars, although the first submarine is not expected to join the Australian fleet for years. Australia, which in February made the first of six $US500 million (about $800 million) payments to the US for the boats, is expected to initially buy between three and five off-the-shelf Virginia-class boats. At the time, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Mr Trump was supportive of the AUKUS deal. "The president is very aware, supportive of AUKUS," Mr Hegseth said after a meeting with Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles. "(He) recognises the importance of the defence industrial base." Mr Marles responded that the pair had discussed how the US and Australia could advance their longstanding diplomatic relationship in terms of national security, including AUKUS. Australia's military budget is expected to rise to 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product, or output, by 2034. The US regime has already called for Australia to increase that spending to around 3.5 per cent. Australia tore up its $90 billion diesel-powered submarine deal with France to sign on to AUKUS and is contracted to buy several off-the-shelf submarines costing about $US4 billion each, before making its own. The first Australian-made boats are not due to be operational until the 2040s.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Home solar battery contracts ripped up as promised government rebate ditched
Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program. Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program. Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program. Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program.
