Legalise Cannabis Queensland Party fielded 29 candidates across the entirety of the State for the 2024 Election.
The LNP have garnered a narrow majority and will form government, but there was no landslide win as predicted by the right-wing, mainstream media. The Premier-elect said, “Tomorrow we get to work, and do what we say we were going to do. We don't do what we say we wouldn’t do. And we have a contract with Queenslanders. We intend to honour it”.
The percentages of first preference votes given to Legalise Cannabis Queensland candidates is still being tabulated but the average is around 5%, an excellent result for a minor party, leading both One Nation and Greens candidates in some seats and finishing well ahead of Animal Justice, Family First and a majority of the Independents and the Libertarians, who failed to fire.
The Queensland Parliament’s makeup is yet to be finalised as vote counting continues, with Katter’s Australian Party winning three seats and the Noosa independent retaining her seat. Both leaders campaigned hard on the key election issues of youth crime, housing, health and cost-of-living pressures. Cannabis legalisation was mentioned once, and sadly, that was in deprecating terms, with the former Premier stating his Party had no intention of legalising.
After holding two seats in the last Parliament, the Greens appear to have lost at least one, to Labor, but remain ahead in the other, with around 72% of the vote counted. In a quarter of the seats the Legalise Cannabis Queensland Party fielded candidates, they are currently leading the Greens, which is an outstanding result!
Malcolm Parry is ahead in Burnett, Jeff Knipe is well ahead in Hervey Bay, Kevin Wheatley is ahead in Hinchinbrook, Ben Gauci is marginally ahead in Mackay, Tony Hopkins is ahead in Nanango, Jacinta Waller is marginally ahead in Rockhampton and Angela Adams has more than double the Greens vote count in the third largest electorate of Warrego. Each of the candidates pages will be updated with their final results at the end of official counting.
It would seem however, that there is still a very long way to travel to get to cannabis law reform in Queensland. Regardless, a short-cut to that attainment may well present itself in the 2025 Federal Election.
With an exemplary candidate standing for the Senate representing Queensland, in independent journalist Belinda Jones, we must remember that in the last Federal Election, Legalise Cannabis nearly knocked Pauline off her perch, so we are certainly in with a big chance!
The Management Committee would like to thank all the candidates, volunteers and others working behind the scenes for the State Election, without their dedication to the cause of cannabis law reform we would have no Party and no hope of any representation.
We hope to see you putting your hand up for cannabis law reform in 2025 during the Federal Election campaign!
