A glamorous former Sunrise reporter who once called former Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk “rude” has sensationally quit TV to run for the LNP.
Bianca Stone has won the Liberal National Party’s preselection vote for the Gold Coast seat of Gaven and will contest this year’s Queensland state election.
Stone already has a history of antagonism with Labor, which has been in power in Queensland for six of the last 35 years since 1989.
On July 1, 2021, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Stone attempted to ask Ms Palaszczuk a question about a request to obtain more Pfizer vaccines for the state.
Stone accused the Queensland government of engaging in a “public relations stunt”, to which Ms Palaszczuk angrily replied: “I’m not going to answer when people are rude, so does anyone else have a question?” You’re very rude.’
Glamorous former Sunrise reporter Bianca Stone (pictured), who once called former Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk ‘rude’, has sensationally quit TV to run for the LNP
Ms Palaszczuk told Stone “you are very rude” after she asked a question about vaccines
After the announcement was made on Saturday, Queensland Deputy Prime Minister Cameron Dick said Labor was not overly concerned about Stone’s pre-selection.
“We don’t care who the LNP selects because lazy LNP MPs on the Gold Coast by fat margins have never delivered anything for that community,” Mr Dick said.
Stone will face incumbent Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon in the Oct. 26 election.
Mr Dick said Ms Scanlon has worked hard for her constituents and community since becoming the youngest woman to be elected in Queensland in 2017 at the age of 24.
“Our government has been the transformative government for the Gold Coast. “All the big investment on the Gold Coast, heavy rail, light rail, hospitals, stadiums, all that has been done by Labor governments,” he said.
“Someone like Meaghan Scanlon has been absolutely pivotal in getting these projects delivered, cost-of-living relief and more homes.
“These have all been delivered by someone like Meaghan Scanlon, and she is absolutely the best choice for Gaven and the Gold Coast.”
Announcing her plans, Stone said it was clear that people felt vulnerable both physically and economically under a Labor government.
She also cited gang violence as one of her top concerns.
“Community safety should be the top priority of any government and we should feel nothing but completely safe in our homes,” she said.
In April, Stone resigned from Sunrise after six years on morning television. She had worked for Channel Seven for 18 years.
Bianca Stone (pictured) has won the Liberal National Party preselection vote for the Gold Coast seat of Gaven and will run in this year’s Queensland state election
Stone will face incumbent Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon (pictured) in the October 26 election.
“This has been a difficult decision,” she posted on Instagram at the time.
“Sunrise is like a family (although a little dysfunctional at times) and I have experienced some incredible career highlights over the past six years.
‘I’ve traveled around the country and the world reporting on terror attacks, royal visits, the death of the Queen, two Commonwealth Games, floods, fires, cyclones and too many tragedies.’
Stone said that although Sunrise was her “dream job,” she had decided to step down to consider the next step in her career.
‘It came as a shock (to Channel Seven). But I’ve been toying with the idea for a while,” she told the Courier Mail in February 2023.
‘Sunrise is a dream job… breakfast TV is addictive and compelling, but there’s also an alarm going off every day and that’s going to be difficult.
‘At first, if I’m honest, Sunrise’s excitement was greater than the alarm. But as I get older and my little girl is older, that has changed for me.”
The mother of three is married to Gold Coast Police Detective Mark Mooney.