Electoral district of Mundingburra
Mundingburra is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It is currently held by Labor Party MP Les Walker.[1]
| Mundingburra Queensland—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Map of the electoral district of Mundingburra, 2024 | |||||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Les Walker | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Mundingburra | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 33,405 (2020) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 122 km2 (47.1 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Provincial | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 19°18′S 146°46′E / 19.300°S 146.767°E | ||||||||||||||
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Overview Edit
The seat is one of four within the Townsville urban area in North Queensland. Significant utilities within the Mundingburra electorate are the Townsville Hospital, the Douglas Campus of James Cook University and Stockland Shoppingcentre. Suburbs of the electorate include Heatley, Cranbrook, Aitkenvale, Mundingburra, Vincent, Douglas, Annandale, Gulliver, Mysterton, Rosslea, part of Kirwan and Pimlico north of the Ross River.[2][3]
Mundingburra is bordered by the Burdekin (south), Townsville (north and east) and Thuringowa (west) electorates.[4]
Electoral history Edit
The first incarnation of the Mundingburra electorate was created at the 1911 redistribution, encompassing parts of the former electorates of Herbert and Bowen. It was a historically Australian Labor Party seat, but from 1944 onwards was held by North Queensland Labor Party MP Tom Aikens. It changed significantly in a 1949 redistribution, and was abolished in 1959, with most of the district becoming part of the new Townsville South electorate.
1996 by-election Edit
The Mundingburra electoral district attracted national attention and headlines in early 1996 with a by-election called after the Court of Disputed Returns declared the result in the seat from July 1995 election void. The result had taken over a week to determine and ended up with the incumbent member, Ken Davies of the Labor Party, winning by 16 votes.[5] This gave the Goss government a one-seat majority in Parliament - 45 seats to the Coalition's 43 and one conservative-leaning independent, Liz Cunningham. Davies was subsequently appointed as Minister for Emergency Services and Consumer Affairs.
The Liberals challenged the result in August and on 8 December, the court ordered a new election, partly on the basis that administrative difficulties had deprived several military personnel serving in Rwanda of their vote. It was generally understood that the fate of the Goss government likely rested on the result, and Goss himself was prominent in it, announcing amongst other things a A$1 billion Korean zinc smelter for Townsville and asking voters to end the uncertainty "bedevilling" the Queensland political system. An expected federal election in March 1996 where the unpopular Keating government (also Labor) would face the voters was a key feature in the background.[6]
Things became somewhat chaotic when Labor, on the basis of internal polling data and a legal case between Davies and the Commonwealth Bank, decided to drop Davies as its endorsed candidate, selecting Tony Mooney, the mayor of Townsville in his place. Davies reacted angrily, ultimately running as an independent and generating a considerable level of media publicity. A total of 12 candidates supporting a raft of causes ended up nominating by the draw of ballot papers on 12 January. On 25 January, Keating called the federal election for 2 March, which Goss described as an "outside distraction".[6]
Contradictory polls generally suggested the Coalition would win, although a late poll by AGB McNair two days before polling day suggested Labor could still win. However, on the day, a swing of 2.83% to the Liberals saw their candidate Frank Tanti, a shop manager and committed Christian who had run a low-level doorknocking campaign for months, win the by-election. Within days, it became clear that Independent Liz Cunningham would support the Coalition, and the Goss government resigned, allowing Rob Borbidge to form a minority government which lasted until the 1998 election. At that election, Labor, under Peter Beattie, won back both Mundingburra and governing party status.[6]
Members for Mundingburra Edit
| First incarnation (1912–1960) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Thomas Foley | Labor | 1912–1920 | |
| John Dash | Labor | 1920–1944 | |
| Tom Aikens | North Queensland Labor | 1944–1960 | |
| Second incarnation (1992–present) | |||
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Ken Davies | Labor | 1992–1995 | |
| Frank Tanti | Liberal | 1996–1998 | |
| Lindy Nelson-Carr | Labor | 1998–2012 | |
| David Crisafulli | Liberal National | 2012–2015 | |
| Coralee O'Rourke | Labor | 2015–2020 | |
| Les Walker | Labor | 2020–present | |
Election results Edit
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Les Walker | 10,839 | 38.22 | +6.80 | |
| Liberal National | Glenn Doyle | 9,170 | 32.33 | +6.21 | |
| Katter's Australian | Alannah Tomlinson | 3,448 | 12.16 | −1.72 | |
| Greens | Jenny Brown | 1,953 | 6.89 | −0.75 | |
| One Nation | Ian Bowron | 1,323 | 4.67 | −12.00 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Susan Jackson | 1,307 | 4.61 | +4.61 | |
| United Australia | Martin Brewster | 320 | 1.13 | +1.13 | |
| Total formal votes | 28,360 | 96.78 | +1.63 | ||
| Informal votes | 945 | 3.22 | −1.63 | ||
| Turnout | 29,305 | 87.73 | +0.95 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Les Walker | 15,295 | 53.93 | +2.80 | |
| Liberal National | Glenn Doyle | 13,065 | 46.07 | −2.80 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | +2.80 | |||
Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. |
- Liberal
- National
Graphs are temporarily unavailable due to technical issues. |
References Edit
- ^ (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2012-2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2020.
- ^ "ABC Electorate guide". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 16 December 2006.
- ^ . Archived from the original on 29 August 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2006.
- ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2006. Retrieved 15 December 2006.
- ^ (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 September 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2006.
- ^ a b c Wanna, John (December 1996). "Australian Political Chronicle: January–June 1996". Australian Journal of Politics and History. 42 (3): 419–421. ISSN 0004-9522.
- ^ 2020 State General Election – Mundingburra – District Summary, ECQ.
External links Edit
- Green, Antony. "Electorate Profile". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.