Labor candidate Norm Jacobsen will direct his preferences to Greens candidate Valerie Weier, then Mr Katter, Family First's Donna Gallehawk, and finally Mr Pavetto. Katter Australia's Party MP Bob Katter. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Jacobsen's campaign manager Kevin O'Sullivan told Fairfax Media the preference allocation was decided by ALP head office and was about policies, not personality. "Jonathan Pavetto's sexuality is not an issue for us. It doesn't come into our thinking. He's a nice young man actually," he said. "For us it has always been about policies." Mr O'Sullivan cited school funding, protecting Medicare and the NBN among those priorities. But he could name no reason for putting the Family First candidate above Mr Pavetto.

"I'm not too sure what the reason behind that is," he said. "It's just the way it is." Labor's how-to-vote card in the Queensland seat of Kennedy. Credit:Facebook At the 2013 election, Mr Katter won just 30 per cent of the primary vote but was boosted by preferences from Labor, the Greens and Palmer United. Labor's candidate in Kennedy Andrew Turnour polled third and his preferences flowed to Mr Katter 80-20 over LNP rival Noeline Ikin. Mr Pavetto said Labor's decision to again run a "protection racket" for Mr Katter was disappointing and hypocritical. Jonathan Pavetto is running in the federal seat of Kennedy.

"Bill Shorten claims to represent progressive Australia but then they go and preference someone like Bob Katter who's famously known for his views on social issues," he said. "It's pretty inconsistent." But the LNP candidate is giving his own second preference to Family First, a party he described as generally more closely aligned to the LNP's conservative interests. Family First is strongly opposed to same-sex marriage. Bill Shorten claims to represent progressive Australia but then they go and preference someone like Bob Katter who's famously known for his views on social issues. Liberal candidate Jonathan Pavetto Of course, individual voters ultimately decide how to number their own ballot paper, and are by no means obliged to follow the recommendations on any how-to-vote card. Labor preferences are decided by head office and can sometimes put local candidates in positions they dislike. In the seat of Melbourne Ports, Michael Danby has been caught distributing how-to-votes recommending voters place the Liberal candidate above the Greens, defying a ruling by the party's national executive.