![\"Courtney](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/b67e4c2f23cddab2b93586c25cd33e8e2cad80c6.png\")
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Updated March 29, 2026 \u2014 3:48pm,first published 12:28pm<\/p>\n
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Liberal moderate James McGrath has secured the top position on the Queensland LNP\u2019s Senate ticket, above federal Nationals leader Matt Canavan.<\/p>\n The result, announced at the State Council meeting in Brisbane on Saturday afternoon, puts Canavan in second position on the ticket, leaving him vulnerable if the LNP vote collapses amid the rise of One Nation.<\/p>\n Nationals and Liberals contest elections in Queensland as candidates for the LNP, and therefore run on a single ticket, even though they sit in different federal party rooms.<\/p>\n McGrath was first elected to the Senate in 2013 and currently serves as opposition spokesman for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, urban infrastructure and cities, and special minister of state.<\/p>\n He said it was a privilege to have been preselected as the LNP\u2019s lead Senate candidate, pledging to get \u201cto work straight away \u2026 in close partnership with both Angus Taylor and Matt Canavan\u201d.<\/p>\n Canavan<\/a>, who recently defeated Kevin Hogan and Bridget McKenzie to replace David Littleproud as the new Nationals leader, thanked the party for choosing him as a candidate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe next federal election is vital to our country\u2019s future with Australia at a crossroads. We must show all of Australia\u2019s forgotten people that with enough guts and courage we can turn things around,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Brisbane-based lawyer Adam Stoker and Toowoomba mayoral advisor Michael Duff followed McGrath and Canavan in third and fourth position.<\/p>\n Stoker is the husband of former conservative LNP senator Amanda Stoker, who lost her senate seat at the 2022 federal election after she was put into third position on the ticket, with McGrath first<\/a>. She is now the state member for Oodgeroo.<\/p>\n Related Article The LNP secured two of Queensland\u2019s six senate spots at the last federal election, with One Nation winning another.<\/p>\n Under party rules, the top spot goes to a member of the Liberal party room, with a National in the second position.<\/p>\n Political commentator and Griffith University Associate Professor Paul Williams was unsurprised that McGrath had been selected at the top of the ticket.<\/p>\n Against the rise of One Nation\u2019s popularity, however, he said endorsing Canavan as the top candidate may have been more savvy.<\/p>\n \u201cIf anyone can bring back the One Nation vote, it\u2019s Canavan. So much of what he believes in and says overlaps with One Nation anyway, he just says it better,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey need big guns to combat [One Nation leader Pauline Hanson].\u201d<\/p>\n Before the last federal election, One Nation\u2019s popularity was polling about 6 per cent. Current national polls have them between 23 and 28 per cent.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they can poll at 22 per cent in South Australia, they can poll much higher in regional Queensland,\u201d Williams said.<\/p>\n \u201cThat would not only guarantee them one seat in the Senate but they could get two.\u201d<\/p>\n In his keynote speech at the state council conference on Sunday, Premier David Crisafulli said he was filled with hope for the party\u2019s future.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m filled with hope, having seen one of our own [Canavan] rise from the Upper House to lead the National Party,\u201d Crisafulli said.<\/p>\n Get alerts on significant breaking news as happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n![\"Liberal](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/9ff7661208b87f6a83b4024d6cb0d0dd98f5978f.jpeg\")
Liberal moderate James McGrath will go into the next federal election at the top of the ticket.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n![\"Nationals](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/6d4e7a7333cc63c6fca3914739f3ef456a147df5.jpeg\")
Nationals leader Matt Canavan is second on the ticket. Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n![\"Swan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/b78f08241f775983c07d5e541506ebd45c32dfd8.jpeg\")
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