Electoral district of Bundaberg

Bundaberg
Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Map of the electoral district of Bundaberg, 2017
StateQueensland
MPTom Smith
PartyLabor
NamesakeBundaberg
Electors35,296 (2020)
Area108 km2 (41.7 sq mi)
DemographicProvincial
Coordinates24°52′S 153°20′E / 24.867°S 153.333°E / -24.867; 153.333
Electorates around Bundaberg:
Burnett Burnett Burnett
Burnett Bundaberg Burnett
Burnett Burnett Burnett
2008 Electoral map

Bundaberg is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in central Queensland, Australia. It covers the city of Bundaberg, as well as the immediate surrounding area.[1]

History

The electoral district of Bundaberg was created by the Electoral Districts Act of 1887 which abolished the electoral district of Mulgrave that had included the Bundaberg area.[1] The first election held in the seat of Bundaberg was the 1888 election.

The city's urban population has long made the seat a Labor stronghold; it was in Labor hands for all but a few years from 1892 to 2006, even during the height of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's popularity. This changed in 2005 when the practices of rogue surgeon Jayant Patel at the Bundaberg Base Hospital were uncovered. The Beattie government was seriously embarrassed by the subsequent Commissions of Inquiry into the matter, and as a result the seat fell to the Nationals. It became a Liberal National seat with the conservative parties' merger in 2008, and stayed in LNP hands for all but one term until 2020.

In 2020, the Labor Party won the seat by nine votes.[2] It is currently an extremely marginal seat.

Members for Bundaberg

Member Party Term
  Walter Adams Conservative 1888–1890
  Ministerial 1890–1892
  George Hall Labour 1892–1893
  Michael Duffy Ministerial 1893–1896
  Thomas Glassey Labour 1896–1901
  George Barber Labor 1901–1935
  Bernard McLean Labor 1935–1941
  Frank Barnes Andrew Fisher Labor 1941–1944
  Frank Barnes Labor 1944–1950
  Ted Walsh Labor 1950–1957
  Queensland Labor 1957–1963
  Independent 1963–1969
  Lou Jensen Labor 1969–1976
  Independent 1976–1977
  Jim Blake Labor 1977–1983
  Clem Campbell Labor 1983–1998
  Nita Cunningham Labor 1998–2006
  Jack Dempsey National 2006–2008
  Liberal National 2008–2015
  Leanne Donaldson Labor 2015–2017
  David Batt Liberal National 2017–2020
  Tom Smith Labor 2020–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Bundaberg
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Queensland state election § Bundaberg.[edit]
2024 Queensland state election: Bundaberg[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Tom Smith 13,253 41.47 −1.73
Liberal National Bree Watson 11,855 38.5 −3.0
One Nation Alberto Carvalho 2,451 7.67 +1.87
Legalise Cannabis Ian Zunker 1,857 5.81 +0.31
Greens Nat Baker 1,089 3.41 +0.21
Independent Geoff Warham 603 1.89 +1.89
Independent Alan Corbett 442 1.38 +1.38
Total formal votes 31,957 95.02 −1.46
Informal votes 1,676 4.98 +1.46
Turnout 33,633 88.57
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Tom Smith 16,460 51.51 +1.51
Liberal National Bree Watson 15,497 48.49 −1.51
Labor hold Swing +1.51
Results are not final. Last updated on 16 November 2024.

References

  1. ^ a b "Representatives of Queensland State Electorates 1860-2017" (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2012-2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ^ Dennien, Matt (13 November 2020). "Labor by nine votes: Government wins historic Bundaberg, Nicklin recounts". Brisbane Times. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  3. ^ {Electoral Commission of Queensland (13 November 2024). "2024 State General Election – Bundaberg – District Summary". results.elections.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 18 November 2024.