Electoral district of Mundingburra

Mundingburra Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Mundingburra (2008—)
State	Queensland
MP	Coralee O'Rourke
Party	Labor
Namesake	Mundingburra
Electors	29,725 (2015)
Area	31 km^2 (12.0 sq mi)
Coordinates	19°18′S 146°46′E / 19.300°S 146.767°ECoordinates: 19°18′S 146°46′E / 19.300°S 146.767°E

Mundingburra is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It is currently held by Australian Labor Party MP Coralee O'Rourke.

Overview

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.^[1][2]

Mundingburra Electorate is bordered by the Burdekin (South), Townsville (North and East) and Thuringowa (West) Electorates.^[3]

Electoral history

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 Labor 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

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

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".^[5]

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.^[5]

Members for Mundingburra

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–present

Election results

Queensland state election, 2015: Mundingburra[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	David Crisafulli	10,921	41.32	−2.02
	Labor	Coralee O'Rourke	10,596	40.09	+14.37
	Palmer United	Clive Mensink	2,874	10.87	+10.87
	Greens	Jenny Brown	2,040	7.72	+2.69
Total formal votes			26,431	97.76	+0.11
Informal votes			606	2.24	−0.11
Turnout			27,037	89.60	−0.29
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Coralee O'Rourke	13,104	52.76	+12.95
	Liberal National	David Crisafulli	11,733	47.24	−12.95
	Labor gain from Liberal National		Swing	+12.95

References

1. "ABC Electorate guide". Retrieved 2006-12-16.
2. "Team Beattie Electorate guide". Retrieved 2006-12-16.
3. "Electoral Commission of Queensland map of Electorate" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-12-15.
4. "Newman, Gerard, Queensland election 1995. Aust Parliamentary Library research note Number 28" (PDF). Retrieved 2006-12-16.
5. Wanna, John (December 1996). "Australian Political Chronicle: January–June 1996". Australian Journal of Politics and History 42 (3): 419–421. ISSN 0004-9522.
6. 2015 State General Election - Mundingburra - District Summary, ECQ.

External links

• Electorate Profile (Antony Green, ABC)