Working and raising a family in Mount Isa, Mr Tayler said feeling firsthand the impact an LNP government has had on the North West is the reason why he has chosen to run as the ALP candidate against sitting member Rob Katter.

Mr Tayler, 38, moved back to Mount Isa in 2011 with his wife Michelle and two daughters after first arriving in the region in 2004.

Opposition leader Annastacia Palaszczuk welcomed Mr Tayler as one of the fresh new faces standing for Labor at the coming state election.

 “It’s great to have Simon on my team of fresh new candidates standing for Labor at the next state election,’’ Ms Palaszczuk said.

 “As a police officer and through his involvement in various community organisations he knows the region well and he knows the issues that affect people’s lives.

“I am proud to lead a team of candidates such as Simon who are overwhelmingly fresh faces with fresh ideas and the energy and enthusiasm to be strong voices for their communities.”

 Mr Tayler said he was looking forward to the campaign. 

 “Moving to the North West from Brisbane with our two young children was not a difficult decision for myself and my wife,” Mr Tayler said.

 “My wife is from Mount Isa and her family still lives here and in Cloncurry, so we knew what a great place the North West was to live.

 “However, in the past three years I have become more and more frustrated with our region being overlooked by the current LNP government.  

‘‘As much as I personally like Robbie it does not help that we have an independent representing our region who unfortunately has struggled to get any results for our communities.”

 Mr Tayler said he believed it was time for a new generation to come through for the North West, to represent the region on the state platform and bring new life into our communities.

 “I am passionate, I am focused and I have the drive to make sure our region is not only represented on a state level, but we see actual results and investments from royalties mined in this region put directly back into our communities,” he said.

Under the ALP, if elected Mr Tayler said  his priorities were:

■ Diversification of industry in the region – ‘‘As much as we all love and appreciate the mining industry we need as an electorate to move away from a boom or bust economy,’’ he said.

■ Liveability of the region – ‘‘I will fight for access to public transport services to connect Mount Isa to the rest of the state including Travel Train through continued subsidisation,’’ he said. ‘‘Unlike the current LNP government, which has recently allowed the service to decrease its capability. Labor will continue to develop state-of-the-art recreational facilities around the North West to promote a healthy and positive lifestyle.’’

State Member for Mount Isa Rob Katter said Mr Tayler faced an uphill battle to renew North West voters’ faith in the Labor party. 

‘‘He will find it difficult to sell Labor out here with the stench of the party starting the asset sales and for the economic woes of leaving a debt legacy,” he said. ‘‘It’ll be hard work to represent a party responsible for that.’’ Mr Katter said Labor’s part in the live export ban and its stance on anti-uranium mining had hurt the region.

 ‘‘It all leaves a bad taste in the mouths of those in the Mount Isa electorate,” he said.

“Their legacy of changes to the Emissions Act, which predicated the intention of Glencore to close the copper smelter and also Labor’s failure to support the CopperString transmission line will be a hard sell. 

‘‘But he’s a nice bloke and we share a good personal relationship.”