Palm Island man Lex Wotton has announced he will contest the state seat of Townsville as an independent candidate in the next QLD state election.
Mr Wotton was jailed for two years following the 2004 Palm Island unrest and has recently been involved in a Racial Discrimination Case against the Queensland police over their actions following the death in custody that sparked the unrest.
Wotton says he decided to run for the seat after the Queensland government appealed the ruling, which had found in the Palm Islanders favour.
Wotton says he hopes to ‘take away votes from the major parties’ and wants to make the police more accountable and address wide problems including Aboriginal deaths in custody.
He is expected to make an official announcement within the next two weeks.
