Dean Fisher in for Bob Katter
THE southern Gold Coast has its first Katter's Australian Party candidate.
Dean Fisher has put up his hand up to compete for the difficult seat of Burleigh.
Burleigh state MP Christine Smith narrowly won the seat as a Labor candidate in 2001 and has increased her margin in the decade since.
In the 2009 election Ms Smith's margin was more than 8%.
Mr Fisher said he could win the seat at the next state election.
"I have grown up a Labor voter but my father died last year and it made me think about my upbringing and the lifestyle I had," Mr Fisher said.
"And then I thought how different it is for my two children."
Mr Fisher said he joined Katter's Australian Party because of its commitment to going back to the basics.
"There is a lot of enthusiasm within the party at the moment," he said.
Mr Fisher did distance his party from One Nation, which sprang up and found support from the same disenchanted voters that Katter's Australian Party was targeting.
"We are not a One Nation," Mr Fisher said.
"We have addressed issues that concern the whole of Australia."
