WHEN the nominations closed at noon yesterday, five candidates had put up their hands to contest the seat of Whitsunday at the State Government election on January 31.

Whitsunday MP Jason Costigan will stand again for the Liberal National Party, while Bronwyn Taha is representing the Australian Labor Party.

Dan Van Blarcom is standing as an independent, Kylee Stanton is representing the Palmer United Party and Tony Fontes will represent the Greens.

With just three weeks between the calling of an election and the election date, there has been little time for candidates to mount a campaign.

Jubilee Pocket resident Dan Van Blarcom had previously announced his intention to run for the

Liberal Democratic Party but due to the tight time frames nominated as an independent instead.

The Greens did not announce a candidate until Monday this week and PUP candidate Kylee Stanton was only endorsed the day before the election was called.

Ms Taha, however, had a significant head start, launching her campaign in April 2013.

Since this time, Ms Taha said youth unemployment had risen, community service funds had been slashed, homelessness had increased, electricity costs had climbed. Yet "nothing has happened" to address these issues, she said.

Mr Costigan in turn has been critical of his ALP opponent, saying anyone who wanted to see the region prosper should be scared of voting in someone "who used to work for the former Labor MP for Whitsunday, who presided over the demise of the tourism sector in her own backyard".

"I'll stand by my record in rejuvenating our tourism industry, so crucial to Airlie Beach. On top of that we've boosted agriculture, put extra police on the beat, introduced a Safe Night Precinct for Airlie, fixed up our local schools, doubled capacity at the Proserpine Hospital, delivered a better and safer Bruce Highway and on it goes," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Van Blarcom said one of the Whitsundays' problems was having politicians who were "just singing off their song sheet from Brisbane".

Describing himself as a "progressive conservative" candidate, Mr Van Blarcom said he was giving the people of the electorate a chance "to vote against the two-party system, where the major parties are just two sides of a tarnished and bent coin". Ms Stanton also believes the LNP and ALP have "had the upper hand for far too long".

This being said she intends to fight the election on her own beliefs surrounding issues of education, childcare, health and small business, instead of the normal political platform of putting the opposition down.

The Great Barrier Reef will be a major economic and environmental election issue for Greens candidate Tony Fontes. A local diver and co-founder of the Order of Underwater Coral Heroes, Mr Fontes said the threats from dredging, dumping and coastal development had motivated him to stand.

One thing all candidates agree on is that on Saturday, January 31, the people of the Whitsundays will have the chance to have their say.