After the seat of Dalrymple was abolished, the seat of Mount Isa extended to include Katter’s Australian Party MP Shane Knuth’s home town of Charters Towers and will change its name to Traeger. 

Mr Knuth said unhappy locals have since distributed and signed a petition to oppose the changes.

“The petition has been well received by the electorate and it is snowballing with nearly every shop in Charters Towers displaying the petition on their counter.” he said. “To divide the crossbenchers that are providing and supporting rural Queensland and add to the current Mount Isa electorate, makes Traeger almost impossible to cover.”

Mr Knuth said many constituents wanted him to continue so he was keeping his options open.

“I am eyeing off the seat of Hill but for me to run for any other electorate I would have to uproot and move at least 200 kilometres,” he said.

“I have been a member of parliament for 13 years, established roots in Dalrymple and made many friends.

“Ideally I want to see this proposal come to a halt. It is only a result of the Electoral Commission following the ALP and LNP submissions.”

The petition will be returned to Mr Knuth’s Charters Towers and Atherton offices by March 24 and be lodged an as objection to the redistribution.

Fellow KAP member Robbie Katter wants people to make a submission to the Queensland Redistribution Commission by March 27.

“It is ridiculous that the publicized re-mapping of boundaries will create new seats closer to metropolitan areas,” Mr Katter said.

 “Any sitting member (in Traeger) will face increased demands from the addition of a large population center located 769 km from the main city of Mount Isa.”