COMMENT: Maranoa braces for pollie marathon
THE retirement of a long-serving politician often can leave a power vacuum that changes the complexion of a local election campaign, particularly if the national contest is a tight one.
Bruce Scott MP bids farewell to Canberra, safe in the knowledge that his personal popularity and solid representation have made Maranoa the second safest Coalition seat in the land.
Mr Scott won the respect of both sides of the House of Representatives for his advocacy on behalf of rural Australia and veterans, and his gentlemanly professionalism as Deputy Speaker.
The Liberal-National Party has pre-selected high-profile business leader David Littlepoud, who now has a marathon 53 days in which to lay out his credentials to fill Mr Scott's boots.
With a massive electorate of 731,297sqkm to cover, Mr Littleproud and his Labor challenger Dave Kerrigan will have their work cut out for them.
So too will One Nation's Lynette Keehn, The Greens' Katherine Hompes, and other candidates who nominate.
Mr Littleproud must start as the firm favourite with a two-party preferred margin of 22.3 per cent.
This election will focus on the leadership styles of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Labor's Bill Shorten, the Federal Budget fineprint, and what the major parties can offer the Southern Downs.
