Forde is expected to be a seat of unlikely focus in the lead up to the May 21 election, pinned by political analysts as a “key seat”.
Although LNP’s Bert van Manen increased his margin considerably during the last election, Labor numbers crunchers say they’re buoyed by the 2016 result which saw the site on a knife-edge at less than 1%.
Labor candidate Rowan Holzberger said a repeat of those numbers could put Forde in an interesting position.
Sitting member Mr van Manen however, has won four elections – two of them tight and two with healthy swings to the LNP government of the time, including the most recent in 2019.
He would need a swing against him of about 8% to lose the seat. If that was to happen, it would be considered a disaster for the government.
“I’ve lived almost my entire life in the Logan area, and I’m proud of that, and that’s why I want to keep serving my community,” Mr van Manen said.
The other two seats in Logan are Wright, which is an LNP stronghold, represented by Scott Buchholz, and Rankin, held by Jim Chalmers, is considered a safe Labor seat, albeit with a smaller margin than Forde.
Meanwhile, Logan mayor Darren Power has been quick to challenge candidates to support local projects – some of which missed out on funding in the government’s recent budget.
Council’s wishlist includes:
- An Olympic venue
- Proposed Greenbank Interchange (Middle and Teviot Roads)
- Loganlea Road widening project
- Underwood Road bus turnaround
- Bethania to Logan Village recreational rail trail
- Park Ridge leisure centre and general community space
- Beenleigh Aquatic Centre stage 2
- Waterford West District Park stage 2
- Oliver’s Precinct First Nations space
- Logan Central Youth Centre
- Park upgrades: Springwood Park master plan and Forestglen Park master
plan - Jimboomba local road and stormwater upgrades
- CCTV safety cameras and room upgrade
- Protection and recovery of threatened species in Logan
- Climate resilience actions
- Internet connectivity and mobile blackspot coverage
Cr Power met with the three local incumbent MPs late last year to put council’s wish list at the forefront.
“We have our wish list for those foundations and we welcome any pledges from candidates that benefit our residents today and in the future,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter who’s in government after the election. We need to work together across all levels of government to make the City of Logan the best place it can be.
“This is our moment to tell the decision makers at the highest level what we want them to commit to.”
