IT’S not too often an entire region’s leaders are shown the exit door under a shroud of controversy.

In Fisher, the Slipper diaries affair finally proved too weighty for outgoing LNP MP Mal Brough, while a whirlwind three years in Fairfax under Clive Palmer’s ‘leadership’ will end.

Palmer, elected as the great white hope, a solution to inaction and inattention from the two major parties, proved far from our saviour.

Embattled in recent times after the turmoil surrounding Queensland Nickel among other scandals, Palmer’s political bank balance was effectively bone-dry in Fairfax by the time the election was called.

The question now is whether that experience will drive voters back into the arms of the two major parties or whether the rise of the religious patriots in the form of a number of minor parties will attract the disenfranchised.

There’s no doubt there are fractures within the Coalition.

The elevation of the progressive Turnbull to the top office would have driven those in the far right even further.

The mobilisation of those ultra conservatives in the form of a number of minor parties with strong views on marriage equality, abortion, immigration and sovereignty is evidence of that.

On the Coast, the prominence of these parties has been surprising. But it remains to be seen whether it’s all just bluster or if there is a significant shift in the political landscape taking shape.

A number of parties are basing themselves on the platform of direct democracy utilising technology.

Certainly far from the worst of policies, but again, can parties with the only policy of listening to voters cut through the rhetoric that has flown through what has been a dull past two months?

The Coalition and the council for that matter have been vocal in their call for cohesion between all levels of government to achieve for our region.

The loan commitment for the Sunshine Coast Airport expansion, if that’s anything to go by, was a clear indicator patience is wearing thin in this region and if the LNP are re-elected, this term will be the one they must deliver in for us.