An Afghanistan veteran has won back the marginal Queensland seat of Herbert for the Liberal Party.

The seat was previously held by Labor MP Cathy O’Toole, who won it from the Liberal incumbent by 37 votes in 2016.

31-year-old Phillip Thompson has now decisively reclaimed the seat for the Libs, winning a swing of 7.6 per cent.

He tells Alan Jones about his time as a soldier in Afghanistan, where he suffered a traumatic brain injury, lost hearing in his right ear, and suffered from PTSD after a roadside bomb went off while he was on duty.

“With my PTSD, I’ve grown from it. I call it ‘post-traumatic growth’. I went through a bad time, no doubt about it, but I’ve grown, developed and pushed myself further.

“I think I’m a better person now than I was before it.”

He says he attributes his election victory to “teamwork and hard work”.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview