Early election results indicate that Matthew Canavan could be the first Senator elected from Toowoomba. 

Mr Canavan was third on the LNP Senate ticket and with more than 60 per cent of the vote counted, the LNP look set to have three Senators elected according to a Senate projection on Antony Green's ABC website.*

"It would be incredibly humbling if I am to be the first person to be elected to the Senate from Toowoomba. I always found it amazing that the second biggest inland city in Australia never had a Senator elected from it.

"It just shows how our system doesn't sufficiently represent regional areas, especially when the Senate was created to counter the concentration of political representation in major cities."

Mr Canavan is set to be the second Senator from Toowoomba appointed within a year with Barry O'Sullivan selected by the LNP earlier this year to replace Barnaby Joyce. It is expected that Mr O'Sullivan will be appointed to the Senate by the Queensland Parliament in coming weeks.

"It's a real opportunity to have two Senators from Toowoomba. That means two more voices backing the second range Crossing, two more voices for the inland rail and two more voices to see Toowoomba take the great opportunities that are ahead of it in agriculture, mining and education especially.

Mr Canavan said that one of his first priorities if he is elected would be to fight to ensure that we get a better deal for farmers.

"The current market is clearly broken with two few retail outlets buying from lots of farmers. We need more protections there to ensure that farmers receive a fair price so they can keep producing food.

"The LNP has announced that we will do a root and branch review of the Competition and Consumer Act. That's a chance for us to get better protections for farmers and small manufacturers."

If Mr Canavan is elected he would take his position in the Senate on 1 July 2014. Prior to running for the Senate Matthew Canavan was Chief of Staff to Senator Barnaby Joyce and a Director at the Productivity Commission. He lives at Meringandan with his wife and three kids.

8 September 2013

* http://www.abc.net.au/news/federal-election-2013/results/senate/qld/