North Queensland First

North Queensland First was a political party founded and based in the state of Queensland by former Queensland MP for Whitsunday Jason Costigan.^[4] The party was created in late 2019 after Costigan was expelled from the Liberal National Party.^[5]

North Queensland First
Abbreviation	NQF, NQ First[1]
Leader	Jason Costigan
President	Dick Filewood
Secretary	Ange Nixon[2]
Founder	Jason Costigan
Founded	September 2019; 5 years ago (2019-09)
Registered	31 October 2019; 5 years ago (2019-10-31)[3]
Dissolved	2021
Split from	Liberal National Party
Headquarters	Whitsundays, Queensland
Ideology	Regionalism North Queensland statehood Conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
Colours	Navy blue and yellow
Queensland Parliament	1 / 93 (2019−2020)
Website
https://www.nqfirst.com.au/ [dead link‍]
Politics of Queensland

History

After being expelled by the Liberal National Party,^[6] Independent MP for Whitsunday, Jason Costigan created the North Queensland First Party.

In response to the foundation of the new political party, Katter's Australian Party leader Robbie Katter said: "We are doers, we have left the others for dead in terms of what we have done. We can all talk a big game but it is about who will have a seat in Parliament."^[7]

As of 2023, the party's website is a dead link, although it previously redirected to the webpage of the Democratic Party of Queensland, another minor state-level party.^[8]

Objective

In the published constitution of the party, it states three objectives of the party:^[9]

(a) to promote and deliver Self-Government and Statehood for North Queensland;

(b) the election of MPs to the Queensland Parliament;

(c) to give specific voice in the Queensland Parliament to the desires and expectations of the people of North Queensland.

The party's website stated that "North Queensland First is a conservative, pro-North Queensland political party and believes that Queensland and Australia was founded on traditional Christian values, notwithstanding our respect for people from non-Christian backgrounds."^[10]

Electoral results

Legislative Assembly

Election year	No. of overall votes	% of overall vote	seats won	+/–	Notes
2020	5,616	0.20 (10th)	0 / 93	1	Extra-parliamentary

References

1. "North Queensland First Constitution" (PDF). ECQ. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
2. "THE FORMING OF NORTH QUEENSLAND FIRST". nqfirst.com.au. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
3. "Political party registrations". Ecq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
4. Barry, Derek (2 September 2019). "Jason Costigan sets up North Queensland First party". The North West Star. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
5. Bavas, Josh (12 February 2019). "LNP outlines more harassment allegations against expelled north Queensland MP Jason Costigan". ABC. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
6. Bavas, Josh (1 February 2019). "LNP expels north Queensland MP Jason Costigan". ABC. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
7. Lynch, Lydia (2 September 2019). "'We can all talk a big game': Katter unafraid of new north Queensland party". The Brisbane Times. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
8. "Website". North Queensland First. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
9. "North Queensland First Constitution" (PDF). Retrieved 17 December 2019.
10. "Home page". North Queensland First. Retrieved 14 June 2020.