Division of Fairfax

Australian federal electoral division

Australian electorate

Fairfax
Australian House of Representatives Division

Map

Interactive map of boundaries

Created| 1984
MP| Ted O'Brien
Party| Liberal National Party
Namesake| Ruth Fairfax
Electors| 123,413 (2022)
Area| 1,004 km2 (387.6 sq mi)
Demographic| Rural

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 National | 19 July 2010 –
5 August 2013
|  | Clive Palmer
(1954–) | Palmer United | 7 September 2013 –
9 May 2016 | Retired
|  | Ted O'Brien
(1974–) | Liberal National | 2 July 2016 –
present  | Incumbent

## Election results

[edit]

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Fairfax

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in Queensland § Fairfax.[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 |

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

|

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

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

|

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]

* Division of Fairfax (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission

* v
* t
* e

Electoral divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in Queensland

Liberal National (21)|

| Liberal (15)|

* Bonner
* Bowman
* Dickson
* Fadden
* Fairfax
* Fisher
* Forde
* Groom
* Herbert
* Leichhardt
* Longman
* McPherson
* Moncrieff
* Petrie
* Wright

|

National (6)|

* Capricornia
* Dawson
* Flynn
* Hinkler
* Maranoa
* Wide Bay

Labor (5)|

* Blair
* Lilley
* Moreton
* Oxley
* Rankin

Greens (3)|

* Brisbane
* Griffith
* Ryan

Katter's Australian (1)|

* Kennedy

Abolished|

* Darling Downs
* Oxley (1901–1934)

* Divisions in: New South Wales
* Victoria
* Queensland
* Western Australia
* South Australia
* Tasmania
* Australian Capital and Northern Territories

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