Hanson reminds major parties what is at stake<\/a><\/p>\nPauline Hanson would be the first person to tell you her surge in recent national polls has not put her party on a fast track to occupying the Lodge.<\/p>\n
One Nation’s candidate for Maranoa, Sharron Duncan, said voters felt “betrayed by Labor and the Liberals”.<\/p>\n
“There is a huge cry for more representatives from One Nation to be up in the agricultural farming areas,” she said.<\/p>\n
Griffith University political scientist Paul Williams said it would be “difficult but not impossible” for One Nation to win over Maranoa.<\/p>\n
“David Littleproud holds Maranoa by well over a 20 per cent margin, but One Nation will eat a huge section of that vote away,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I would have said 12 months ago [it would be] impossible, but now I think it is possible, even though it’s still unlikely.”<\/p>\n
Dr Williams said One Nation had been legitimised in a “huge way” by recent events such as the Coalition split and former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce jumping ship.<\/p>\n
In a statement in response to questions from the ABC, Mr Littleproud said since the election he had spent 110 days, or 40 per cent of his time, in Maranoa.<\/p>\n
“It is an honour and a privilege to serve as the Member for Maranoa \u2014 something I never take for granted,” he said.<\/p>\n
“I will continue fighting for Maranoa and for all Australians in Canberra.”<\/p>\n
What do voters think?<\/p>\n
In Warwick, 157 kilometres from Brisbane, Mr Littleproud’s office sits among historic sandstone buildings.<\/p>\n
Residents there told the ABC they had not seen Mr Littleproud in town for a while.<\/p>\n
Michele Wilson said Mr Littleproud had a lot of supporters in the region, but she was more drawn to voting for a Christian party such as Family First.<\/p>\n
“The bigger parties are not really relevant anymore \u2014 I think the minor parties need to step up a bit more,” she said.<\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4ff9a9dd8713e450aac7fde6d88cb4b6.jpeg\")
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Warwick resident Michele Wilson wants to see more support for smaller parties with Christian values. (ABC Southern Qld: Dan McCray)<\/p>\n
Clifton resident Alice McKenzie said she had always been a Nationals voter and did not intend to change her vote.<\/p>\n
“I personally would not like to see One Nation get in,” she said.<\/p>\n
Peter Djekic said he had “protested with signs” outside Mr Littleproud’s office about the pension age being moved from 65 to 67.<\/p>\n
“I never heard back from Littleproud,” Mr Djekic said.<\/p>\n
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Peter Djekic has campaigned on local issues before but says he did not hear back from David Littleproud. (ABC Southern Qld: Dan McCray)<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Nadine Horneman recalled a time Mr Littleproud helped a friend renew her passport on short notice, allowing her to visit her dying father.<\/p>\n
“It gives you a bit of confidence that they are there and can assist you if you’re willing to put it out there,” she said.<\/p>\n
A Nationals stronghold<\/p>\n
Connection to the country party runs deep in the outback despite a surge in support for One Nation.<\/p>\n
Rosemary Champion lives on a cattle property near Longreach and has been a staunch supporter of the Nationals for 60 years.<\/p>\n
“I must say the LNP has been at the forefront of how you can make it equitable in Maranoa, given the size of the electorate,” she said.<\/p>\n
“What we produce out here is an enormous contribution to the economy and we feel that we should get our money’s worth.”![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/b1d275c9724c623d864da11dfd8fc15c.jpeg\")
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Rosemary Champion has been a member of the LNP for more than 60 years. (ABC Western Qld: Victoria Pengilley)<\/p>\n
Mrs Champion believed One Nation was “too far right” for most people and was sceptical of the party’s ability to follow through on policy.<\/p>\n
“Pauline Hanson might come to the Birdcage in Longreach and buy everybody a free beer but that’s not the deal \u2026 it’s year in, year out, putting your budget up and having it scrutinised,” she said.<\/p>\n
The Labor Party also has roots in outback Queensland.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2b4bf5af368618c1dd8ff23363d60e00.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
David Littleproud’s office in Longreach is one of four in the electorate. (ABC Western Qld: Lachlan Ford)<\/p>\n
Barcaldine branch president Dave Kerrigan said despite there not having been a sitting Labor member for Maranoa for decades, there was still a strong vein of working-class solidarity in the bush.<\/p>\n
“Especially since the new year, I’m seeing a lot of young people joining up to the Labor Party, right across Maranoa,” he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Kerrigan agreed with Mrs Champion that One Nation would struggle to gain a foothold in the electorate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stretching from Brisbane’s rural outskirts to the red dirt deserts in the west, the Queensland electorate of Maranoa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461062,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[68825,231553,66974,43,236862,236858,236863,44,236861,236860,14754,41,39,42,40,236859],"class_list":["post-461061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-barnaby-joyce","tag-coalition-split","tag-david-littleproud","tag-headlines","tag-is-david-littleproud-a-good-mp","tag-maranoa","tag-nationals-leader","tag-news","tag-one-nation-longreach-office","tag-one-nation-polling","tag-pauline-hanson","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-what-is-david-littleprouds-electorate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n