If he wins the Stafford by-election, Anthony Lynham will be the only doctor the Queensland Labor party can claim.
But Opposition health spokeswoman Jo-Ann Miller will not be offering Dr Lynham her shadow portfolio.
“No,” she said, when asked.
A spokesman for the Opposition declined to say what portfolios Dr Lynham would be offered if he won the July 19 poll.
But Premier Campbell Newman is determined it won’t become an issue for the party, borrowing from Nathan Rees 2008 premier pledge to spruik the LNP’s Stafford candidate Bob Andersen.
“He is giving it a red hot go,” Mr Newman said about Mr Andersen.
“… He is giving it a red hot go as the government is giving it a red hot go.
“The crime in this electorate has gone down dramatically, so there has been a red hot reduction, a 27 per cent reduction in illegal entry of people’s premises in this part of the world.
“The north-side of Brisbane has seen a dramatic drop in crime, that is also being seen in other parts of this state, because this is a government that has gone out to deal with the issue of making Queensland a safer place to raise families.”
Mr Newman said Mr Andersen had “a great plan and was the true local”.
The issue of which candidate in the Stafford by-election can claim ‘local’ status dominated a recent candidates forum.
None of the four candidates lived in the electorate until recently; the LNP had focused on Dr Lynham’s residence being “24 kilometres” away, which prompted the Labor candidate to rent a property within the Stafford electorate.
“Anthony Lynham lives 24 kilometres on the other side of town, isn’t a local, has not been prepared to give up his medical practice if he becomes the local member,” Mr Newman said.
But Ms Miller accused the government of “creating a vaccination policy all because of the Stafford by-election” and said that Mr Andersen had not made an impact on the electorate.
“We could have had this legislation in place in February this year,” Ms Miller said, of the bill Labor introduced, which if passed, would have banned non-vaccinated children from child-care centres.
It was voted down by the government, with Health Minister Lawrence Springborg instead promising to monitor a similar trial in New South Wales. The government announced its own vaccination plan earlier on Wednesday.
“What they’ve done is create a vaccination policy all because of the Stafford by-election,” Ms Miller said.
“This is what this is about. It is about getting vaccination on the agenda to be able to say they are doing something in health to be able to encourage whoever their candidate is.
“What’s his name? Jared? Bob? Robert? What’s his name? To be able to give him some sort of kudos in Stafford.”
Mr Andersen was born Jared but has gone by Bob since university.