Paul Murray is in Toowoomba and he’s recording a special with the LNP Member for Groom, Garth Hamilton, and Toowoomba Mayor Geoff McDonald tonight.

Other independent candidates in other seats have told me they had a great experience on the program, so my team reached out to ask if we could be on the panel or in the audience to ask a question.

We were told that this was a ‘tourism special’ and not an Our Town special, and that’s fine. If Sky News choose to come to a newly marginal seat the week an election is called and not invite candidates, that’s their prerogative.

I expect they’ll be discussing the recent announcement of Toowoomba as the venue for the Olympics equestrian events, which I couldn’t be happier about, as someone who has been advocating for and attending events for it since 2021, unlike Mr Hamilton.

If I were to be invited to this auspicious program, the question I would ask is this:

When Mr Hamilton was elected, he committed to holding quarterly leaders’ summits to bring together all levels of government to progress the development we need.

This happened once.

In February, (coincidentally after Mr Hamilton was caught out lobbying the RBA via the media to keep interest rates high until after the election), another meeting was announced for March to great fanfare.

It’s the end of the month. This meeting has still not happened. I’ve been told it’s because the two men on this panel refuse to be in the same room together, at least when the cameras are off, and there’s a well-documented history of the two throwing barbs at one another via the media.

Right now, the local, state and federal government representatives for this area are all a part of the same party, and yet there are still constant roadblocks to collaboration.

Groom received nothing in the last federal budget, whereas the Independently held electorate of Indi received 400mill.

In the recent Growing Regions round of grants, Groom received nothing, whereas the neighbouring electorate of Maranoa received $40m of grants, and Independent Bob Katter’s electorate received over $50m.

So, what I’m asking is - why do you deserve our vote, if you can’t work together to get anything done?