Karen Andrews is the first federally preselected candidate by the new Liberal National Party. Karen was selected to represent the Party in the seat of McPherson. Congratulations Karen.

The LNP should be proud of its short history as a democratic Party. Local branches were given a fair and equitable opportunity to choose who they thought would be the best candidate to win the seat on local issues.

No seat is safe, and from what I heard from locals, preselectors knew they had to select a candidate that knew the McPherson community well.

Karen was able to win the seat despite spirited challenges from Mina Knight, Peter Dutton and Wayne Black. It was a privilege to attend the preselection and observe democracy in action.

I fully supported Karen from the beginning as I thought she gives the party the best chance of winning the seat and helping the Coalition regain Government.

Across the state many other LNP preselections will go ahead. This includes the electorate of Wrightwhere I have announced I will contest preselection.

As with McPherson, the preselectors of Wright will have a fair and equitable chance to chose who they think has the best chance to win the seat at a local level.

No seat is safe, and Wright should be viewed by commentators as a marginal rural and semi-rural electorate that will be volatile if local issues are ignored.