Fed: Liberals line up behind Tucker for Ryan

AAP General News (Australia)
04-02-2001
Fed: Liberals line up behind Tucker for Ryan

By Paul Osborne

BRISBANE, April 2 AAP - Liberal Party figures are lining up behind failed Ryan by-election
candidate Bob Tucker to avoid a messy preselection battle.

The Queensland Liberal Party state executive will decide on Friday whether a preselection
will be held in Ryan for the federal poll.

Prime Minister John Howard last week publicly supported Mr Tucker to run again in the
formerly blue-ribbon Liberal seat at the poll due later this year.

A senior Queensland Liberal Party source, who declined to be named, told AAP it would
be "a waste of time and money" to hold another preselection after so much effort had gone
into Mr Tucker's campaign.

Queensland Liberal Senator John Herron said he believed Mr Tucker should be automatically
endorsed for the seat.

"He ran a great campaign and is tried and tested," Senator Herron said.

But some party officials are believed to be keen to hold another preselection ballot
following the March 17 by-election win by Labor's Leonie Short, which was officially confirmed
by the electoral commission in Brisbane today.

Labor has already re-endorsed Ms Short, who today said she had already started campaigning
for the federal poll.

Liberals state director Graham Jaeschke confirmed the party had yet to talk about a
preselection but would discuss it at the state executive meeting on Friday.

"I'm not prepared to comment on it - it is something the executive will look at," he said.

Mr Tucker said today be believed he could win the seat back at the federal poll, which
would have a lower protest vote and a less volatile political climate, and would contest
a preselection if required.

"The preselection is a decision for the political organisation. I will wait and see," he said.

"I've had a lot of support from people who think we've run a pretty good campaign."

Nine Liberal Party members ran in a preselection ballot for the seat on February 4,
which ended in claims of racism when Chinese-Australian Michael Johnson was ruled ineligible
for the ballot.

The party disqualified Mr Johnson, a Brisbane barrister with dual British-Australian
citizenship, in the light of a High Court ruling that MPs could not sit if they retained
dual nationality.

Mr Johnson said today he had yet to receive paperwork formalising his renouncement
of British citizenship, but was still keen to run for a seat in the federal parliament.

"I've always had an interest in standing for federal parliament - all options are open," he said.

He said he would not speculate whether he would run for preselection in Ryan if the
party state executive, of which he is a member, chose to hold a ballot.

He said he was open to running in other Brisbane seats as well as the Senate.

AAP pjo/sc/was/br

KEYWORD: RYAN NIGHTLEAD (WITH PIX)

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