CURRENT Fraser Coast Regional Councillor David Lee will be the next guest speaker at the Hervey Bay Chamber of Commerce Breakfast.

That appearance will not be in the capacity as the fully paid and elected member of Fraser Coast Regional Council Division 9 that he currently serves, but rather as the LNP endorsed candidate for the QLD State Election.

That’s an election that won’t be held until the end of October 2024.

The Chamber advocates that members ‘Come and hear what David’s plans are for improving our health system, tackling the region’s youth crime crisis, and addressing the housing shortage, all of which are among his top campaign priorities’.

Danger Chamber, you have freshly lubricated a slippery slope. There is a delicate balance on the tightrope of informing or advocating campaign initiatives.

The Chamber of Commerce is walking a perilously fine line, outwardly promoting a candidate in a stand-alone appearance, curated just for them.

I personally find it a perplexing decision.

Make no mistake, David Lee is a dedicated and professional local government representative.

He has made the honourable decision to vacate his local government seat after the Fraser Coast Council Election in March, even though the law dictates that he doesn’t have to, in order to run for State Government.

I’ve spoken with David and he absolutely did not seek out the opportunity to have a dedicated address to the business community, the Chamber offered it up to him, wrapped like an early Christmas present.

Anyone in his position would accept it. That’s politics. Puzzlingly, current State Government elected member for Hervey Bay, ALP’s Adrian Tantari was not afforded the same invitation from the Chamber of Commerce when he was a candidate for either the State Government Election in 2017 or again in 2020.

Adrian advises that it wasn’t until two and a half years into his term that he was granted an audience with the Chamber of Commerce earlier this year. He asserts that was at his request, not theirs.

I assume Adrian will get his own breakfast now too, as will any other independent or minor party affiliated candidates, in this new era of political engagement.

You can add to this, the beating drums around the appropriateness of Fraser Coast Regional Council candidates continuing their platform at Chamber events, coming into peak campaigning time.

Time for some tough decisions at the Chamber, on how they are going to handle the candidate carousel in 2024. 

They’ve let the genie out of the bottle early.