Division of Fairfax

Coordinates: 26°35′10″S 152°53′17″E / 26.586°S 152.888°E / -26.586; 152.888
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Fairfax
Australian House of Representatives Division
Map
Map
Interactive map of boundaries
Created1984
MPTed O'Brien
PartyLiberal National Party
NamesakeRuth Fairfax
Electors123,413 (2022)
Area1,004 km2 (387.6 sq mi)
DemographicRural

The Division of Fairfax is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland.

Geography[edit]

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[edit]

Ruth Fairfax, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 and is named after Ruth Fairfax, founder of the Country Women's Association. It is located in the Sunshine Coast region north of Brisbane and includes the towns of Coolum, Yaroomba, Marcoola, Mudjimba, Maroochydore, Buderim, Woombye, Bli Bli, Yandina, Nambour, Mapleton, Kenilworth and Eumundi.[2]

While the Sunshine Coast is traditionally a conservative area, Fairfax is located in a particularly conservative portion of the Sunshine Coast, and so has always been held by a centre-right party.[citation needed] Originally a safe seat for the National Party, demographic change has made it equally safe for the Liberal Party.[citation needed]

The electorate came to national attention at the 2013 federal election, when Clive Palmer, the founder of the Palmer United Party, narrowly won it by 53 votes.[citation needed] Before then, the Coalition's hold on the seat had only been seriously threatened twice, in 1998 and 2007. At all other times, it was a safe, or fairly safe, Coalition seat.[citation needed]

Palmer did not run for re-election, and it was widely expected that the seat would revert to the merged Liberal National Party because, in 2013, LNP would have retained it easily in a "traditional" two-party-preferred vote contest with Labor.[citation needed] As expected, Palmer's 2013 opponent, Ted O'Brien, won the seat resoundingly at the 2016 federal election and has held it without serious difficulty since.[citation needed]

Members[edit]

Image Member Party Term Notes
  Evan Adermann
(1927–2001)
Nationals 1 December 1984
19 February 1990
Previously held the Division of Fisher. Retired
  Alex Somlyay
(1946–)
Liberal 24 March 1990
19 July 2010
Served as Minister under Howard. Retired
  Liberal Nationals 19 July 2010 –
5 August 2013
  Clive Palmer
(1954–)
Palmer United 7 September 2013
9 May 2016
Retired
  Ted O'Brien
(1974–)
Liberal Nationals 2 July 2016
present
Incumbent

Election results[edit]

2022 Australian federal election: Fairfax[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal National Ted O'Brien 46,551 44.91 −4.71
Labor Sue Ferguson 22,662 21.86 +0.38
Greens Sue Etheridge 13,862 13.37 +0.78
One Nation Nikki Civitarese 6,798 6.56 −1.29
United Australia Lisa Khoury 6,132 5.92 +2.86
Animal Justice Tash Poole 2,182 2.10 +2.10
Informed Medical Options Wendy Hazelton 1,997 1.93 +1.93
Independent Barry Smith 1,423 1.37 +1.37
Great Australian Craig White 1,319 1.27 +1.27
Independent Sinim Australie 733 0.71 −0.64
Total formal votes 103,659 94.47 +0.90
Informal votes 6,066 5.53 −0.90
Turnout 109,725 88.99 −2.45
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal National Ted O'Brien 61,108 58.95 −4.49
Labor Sue Ferguson 42,551 41.05 +4.49
Liberal National hold Swing −4.49
Primary vote results in Fairfax (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Liberal/Liberal National
  National
  Labor
  Palmer United/United Australia Party
  Greens
  Australian Democrats
  One Nation
  Independent
Two-candidate-preferred results in Fairfax

References[edit]

  1. ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ Australian Electoral Commission Map of the federal division Fairfax, accessed:07 May 2019
  3. ^ Fairfax, QLD, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links[edit]

26°35′10″S 152°53′17″E / 26.586°S 152.888°E / -26.586; 152.888