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Wide Bay
Australian House of Representatives Division
Wide Bay; Australian House of Representatives Division
	Map Interactive map of boundaries
Created	1901
MP	Llew O'Brien
Party	National
Namesake	Wide Bay, Queensland
Electors	115,420 (2022)
Area	14,227 km2 (5,493.1 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural and provincial

The Division of Wide Bay is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. The current MP is Llew O'Brien of the National Party.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.^[1]

History

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. Wide Bay is located in south east Queensland and includes the cities of Maryborough, Gympie, Noosa, all of Fraser Island, and inland areas extending west to Murgon.

Notable representatives have included three time Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, who was the seat's first member. However, it has been a conservative seat for most of its history; only one other Labor member has ever won it. Warren Truss, former leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, held the seat from 1990 to 2016.

Members

Member	Party	Term	Notes
Andrew Fisher (1862–1928)	Labor	30 March 1901 – 26 October 1915	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Gympie. Served as minister under Watson. Served as Opposition Leader from 1909 to 1910, and from 1913 to 1914. Served as Prime Minister from 1908 to 1909, 1910 to 1913 and 1914 to 1915. Resigned to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
Edward Corser (1852–1928)	Liberal	11 December 1915 – 17 February 1917	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Maryborough. Died in office. Son was Bernard Corser
Edward Corser (1852–1928)	Nationalist	17 February 1917 – 31 July 1928
Bernard Corser (1882–1967)	Country	3 September 1928 – 21 April 1954	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Burnett. Retired. Father was Edward Corser
William Brand (1888–1979)		29 May 1954 – 14 October 1958	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Isis. Retired
Henry Bandidt (1906–1990)		22 November 1958 – 9 December 1961	Lost seat
Brendan Hansen (1922–1999)	Labor	9 December 1961 – 18 May 1974	Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Whitlam. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Maryborough in 1977
Clarrie Millar (1925–2017)	Country	18 May 1974 – 2 May 1975	Retired
	National Country	2 May 1975 – 16 October 1982
	Nationals	16 October 1982 – 19 February 1990
Warren Truss (1948–)		24 March 1990 – 9 May 2016	Served as minister under Howard, Abbott and Turnbull. Served as Deputy Prime Minister under Abbott and Turnbull. Retired
Llew O'Brien (1972–)		2 July 2016 – 10 February 2020	Incumbent
	Liberal National^[b]	10 February 2020 – 7 December 2020
	National^[a]	7 December 2020 – present

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Wide Bay^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Llew O'Brien	41,601	43.47	−3.62
	Labor	Geoff Williams	20,345	21.26	−0.49
	One Nation	Nathan Buckley	9,765	10.20	−0.63
	Greens	Craig Armstrong	9,088	9.50	−0.44
	United Australia	Tracy Bennett	4,406	4.60	+0.99
	Independent	Kelli Jacobi	4,106	4.29	+4.29
	Independent	Tim Jerome	2,737	2.86	−1.64
	Informed Medical Options	Andrea Newland	2,097	2.19	+2.19
	Australian Values	Daniel Williams	1,057	1.10	+1.10
	Federation	John Woodward	501	0.52	+0.52
Total formal votes			95,703	93.58	−1.68
Informal votes			6,569	6.42	+1.68
Turnout			102,272	88.69	−2.98
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Llew O'Brien	58,708	61.34	−1.81
	Labor	Geoff Williams	36,995	38.66	+1.81
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−1.81

Notes

^ ^a ^b Member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland sitting with the federal parliamentary Liberal Party.
^ O'Brien left the Nationals partyroom on 10 February 2020, but did not sit as an independent and continued to support the Coalition government.^[2] He was readmitted to the Nationals partyroom on 7 December 2020.^[3]

References

^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
^ Doran, Matthew; Borys, Stephanie (3 February 2020). "Barnaby Joyce backer Llew O'Brien quits Nationals party room". ABC News. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
^ Murphy, Jamieson (7 December 2020). "Rebel Nationals MP Llew O'Brien rejoins party after 10-month sabbatical". FarmOnline. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
^ Wide Bay, QLD, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.