Seat of the week: McPherson

The Gold Coast seat of McPherson has been in conservative hands since its creation in 1949, and has been served by a succession of low-key members since 1980.

Teal numbers indicate booths with two-party majorities for the Liberal National Party. Red numbers would indicate booths with two-party majorities for Labor, if there were any. Click for larger image. Map boundaries courtesy of Ben Raue at The Tally Room.

McPherson is the southernmost coastal electorate in Queensland, covering the Gold Coast from Coolangatta at the New South Wales border north through Tugun and Palm Beach to Burleigh Heads, and extending inland to Robina and Merrimac in the north and the semi-rural Tallebudgera and Currumbin river valleys further south. An area of intensive and ongoing population growth, the most recent redistribution before the 2010 election saw it lose 5600 voters at the inland end of the electorate to the newly created seat of Wright without it needing to receive any new territory in return. The regional is demographically unremarkable on most measures, excepting a lack of ethnic diversity and a slightly above-average median age.

The electorate was created with the expansion of parliament in 1949, prior to which the Gold Coast had been accommodated by Moreton, which was pushed over time into its present position in southern Brisbane. McPherson has since been anchored in the state’s south-eastern corner, at first extending much further inland to include Beaudesert and Warwick. Its inaugural member was Arthur Fadden, a leader of the Country Party who briefly served as Prime Minister after Robert Menzies’ resignation in August 1941. After six weeks in the role he was defeated in parliament when he lost the support of two key independents, although the beleagured United Australia Party continued to support him as Opposition Leader until the 1943 election defeat. Fadden moved to the newly created seat in 1949 after previously serving as member for Darling Downs, which has since been re-named as Groom. He held the seat until his retirement in 1958, at which point he was succeeded by another Country Party member, Charles Barnes.

The rapid development of the Gold Coast changed the electorate’s complexion in the decades following the war, drawing it away from its rural base and towards the coast and weakening its identity as a Country Party stronghold. When Charles Barnes retired in 1972, Liberal candidate Eric Robinson won the seat after narrowly edging out the Country Party candidate in the preference count. The electorate was at the centre of a political controversy in 1978 when it was alleged that Robinson, then a minister in Malcolm Fraser’s government, had sought to influence the electoral redistribution commissioners after they determined to change the electorate’s name to Gold Coast, which under the terms of the coalition agreement would have entitled the National Country Party to contest the “new” seat. A royal commission into the matter cleared Robinson of wrongdoing but found another minister, Reg Withers (who had won fame as the Opposition’s Senate leader during the 1975 crisis), to have acted improperly. This resulted in Withers’ dismissal by Fraser, to the chagrin of many in the Liberal Party. Robinson went on to resign from the ministry the following year over an unrelated falling-out with Fraser.

Robinson died in January 1981 and was succeeded at the ensuing by-election by Liberal candidate Peter White. White won an easy victory with help from Labor preferences over National Country Party candidate Glenister Sheil, who had resigned from the Senate to run at the by-election and would later return to it in 1984. Sheil had won a position in the ministry in 1977 only to lose it before being sworn in for expressing support for South Africa’s apartheid system. Peter White held the seat until his retirement at the 1990 election, by which time the National Party was no longer competitive in the area at the federal level. He was succeeded by John Bradford, who went on to quit the Liberal Party in 1998 to join Fred Nile’s Christian Democratic Party, standing unsuccessfully as its Queensland Senate candidate at the election later that year. The seat then passed on to Margaret May, who won Liberal preselection from a field that included former Brisbane lord mayor Sallyanne Atkinson.

When May announced her retirement ahead of the 2010 election, Liberal front-bencher Peter Dutton sought to move to the seat in preference to his ultra-marginal existing seat of Dickson in Brisbane’s outer north. However, it quickly became apparent that local party operatives who had been jockeying for the succession were not going to be deterred, despite Dutton’s move having the backing of John Howard and then-Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull. The result was a rebuff for Dutton, who was said to have come within a handful of votes of victory on the first round of the local preselection ballot but was ultimately defeated by Karen Andrews, a Gold Coast businesswoman and chair of the party’s local federal electorate council. The prospect of the party’s state executive intervening by refusing to ratify the result was promptly ruled out amid talk of a potential rebellion in the local party. Dutton was accordingly compelled to remain in Dickson, which he had no trouble retaining amid the much-changed political circumstances which prevailed by the time the election was held. Andrews meanwhile picked up successive swings of 1.6% and 2.7% to hold the seat by a margin of 13.0% after the 2013 election.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

2,218 comments on “Seat of the week: McPherson”

Comments Page 44 of 45
1 … 43 44 45

  1. [I think a few in the Coalition are coming round to the very cold and hard realisation that they’re not in opposition anymore … and Tony Abbott is their leader … ]

    It seems to me that they’ve just taken up where the Howard govt left off: arrogance personified.

  3. [On voting intention, the Coalition is on 43%, Labor on 35% (down one), the Greens and “others” on 9% and 12% respectively. The two-party preferred result shakes out to 52-48%, unchanged since last week.]

  8. Puff, the Magic Dragon.@2137

    Bemused,
    Rubbish, you bagged her for ever since she saved us from KR, and especially after she formed gov’t in 2010.

    As for Rudd, I couldn’t get hold of enough gold paper in all of China to gild that lily.

    I have criticised her woeful performance, not attacked her personally.
    I also called for her removal which was a necessity to preserve enough members to form a credible opposition.

  9. What happens if the motoring guy doesn’t take up his Senate seat next year? I can see the Victorian parliament appointing a pseudo Liberal dressed as a rev-head!

  10. Confessions, its a QLD party now, VIC branch was just sacked. But they swear theyll appoint a Victorian!

    0.5% mandate, brought to you by oue peerless upper house ‘proportional’ electoral system.

  11. [2126
    confessions

    Nobody held a gun to Abbott’s head and forced him to use the highly inflammatory rhetoric that he did.]

    Doesn’t need any more incentive than he just naturally loves doing it. Gets him off. Makes him feel important.

  14. 2158&2159

    The candidate who was on the ballot paper and won cannot be forced to give up the seat and can take it if he wants to.

  15. Shorn T at 2098:

    [Anyone notice Labor aren’t pushing too hard on the travel claims??

    Labors just as guilty]

    Well, first tings first. Who do you reckon is guilty over in LNP land? Our AG, obviously, our PM for sure. Would you convict Barnaby and J Bishop as well?

    And, since you agree that guilt is firmly established, what is the penalty? Surely it is not just our Parliament but our entire democratic system of government which is traduced by a PM who can’t keep his greedy little fingers out of the public purse in the pursuit of his hobbies, like iron man competitions. Abbott must stand down until an enquiry into his serial rorting of the public purse is properly completed. I expect Christopher Pyne to be ready to run out of Parliament (again) to avoid being tainted by Abbott’s dirty vote. How about you?

  16. Ptmd – Agree on

    [Rudd will never be offered a prestigious job]

    He had his chance to get a UN job but couldn’t restrain himself.

  17. Just Me

    Posted Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 3:56 pm | Permalink

    2126
    confessions

    Nobody held a gun to Abbott’s head and forced him to use the highly inflammatory rhetoric that he did.

    Doesn’t need any more incentive than he just naturally loves doing it. Gets him off. Makes him feel important.

    —————————————————

    mmmmm sorta like the lib TROLLS who come here – They have sociopathic tendencies, and accordingly, they delight in other people having hurt feelings.

  19. [Labor are long overdue a break, and Rortgate is a big juicy one, that feeds into a whole lot of other stuff, and can help set a broad political narrative against Abbott and his whole style.]

    LOL!!!! Labor has been ignoring your own RORTS for YEARS.

    Problem is most Aussies didn’t forget LABOR RORTS for the last 3+ Years a much as you want them to. You Labor hacks have very short memories, the Aussie punters don’t.

    Craig Thomson, Michael Williamson and Eddie Obeid court appearances are still coming up by the way… try to keep the circle jerking to a minimum until then.

  21. Where’s Tisme?

    Has Abbott turned back a boat yet?

    How did your team go in your SA gf Diogs?

    I hope the refereeing, was better than in the rugby league grand final!

    It was a nightmare to see Manly blow a winning lead in the second half from 18-8 to go down after a series of shocking refereeing decisions went against them.

  22. Sean

    The average voter has moved on, yes the political tragics can and will bang on about Thommo but as time goes on the voters will be wonder about the new government.

    The fact is the Libs are now in government so as Tone said on election night, no excuses.

    As far as most people are concerned the Rudd/Gillard era is in the history books.

    Surely Sean you don’t think Thommo is an excuse for claims for attending weddings.

    At least Thommo wasn’t using taxpayers money.

  23. Poor Mark Dreyfus has been leading the charge against Abbott over NuptialGate and has been caught out himself and has had to repay $466. These things just take on a life of their own.

  24. CTar1

    Posted Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 4:08 pm | Permalink

    Shorn reduced to crutched.

    ———————————————

    oh please …. “THEY” have to be there first …. I heard a squirrel ran up his trouser leg …. and ultimately died of starvation …

  25. Sean

    Have you been down to the bank to explain to the teller that she is less worth financial support than the executive in the c-suite.

  28. davidwh

    Operative word is that Dreyfus has repaid 466.00. Abbott refuses to repay the 1300.00 for ironman cos he reckons it was a community event in a marginal seat

  29. Davidwh

    Clearly entitlements need to be reformed. Maybe some are justifiable but clearly claiming for trips to weddings or claims for taking part in a bike ride are showing just how silly this while debate can be

  30. victoria 2148
    Posted Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 3:34 pm | Permalink
    “Abbott and Latham both nominees for most sexist remark of the year”

    But surely the most sexist thing witnessed this year was our then PM speaking to a group of supporters that excluded half the population based solely on their gender – ‘Women for Gillard’? And her blatant attacks on how some males dress – blue ties etc.

    Can you imagine the outrage if Abbott had been filmed standing in front of a group called ‘Blokes for Tony’? Or if he had denigrated Gillard based on her clothing.

    Once again the hypocrisy of leftist women knows no bounds.

  31. davidwh

    Posted Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 4:10 pm | Permalink

    Poor Mark Dreyfus has been leading the charge against Abbott over NuptialGate and has been caught out himself and has had to repay $466. These things just take on a life of their own.

    ——————————————–

    Good ….. they ALL need a kick in the a$$ ….its OUR money …. but $466 sounds a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOng way short of what our erstwhile PM has claimed …..whats the latest $ 84,000 and counting ????

  34. But what was the $466 for?

    It may have been justifiable, this whole debate is silly maybe MP’s should just live on their base salary.

  36. Psephos

    Posted Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 4:16 pm | Permalink

    I see that Fairfax is still not declared. Anyone know what’s happening?

    ——————————

    Last I heard the 10,000 or so disputed votes had been reduced to 3000 disputed votes ….and counting was continuing today ….

  37. mexicanbeemer completely agree and commented similarly earlier today. Personally I don’t think they appear genuine travel claims but it is really up to Finance to make a call and if they fit in current guidelines then we need to review the guidelines.

    Other than any loss of political skin I don’t see where people are “rorting” if the guidelines permit the expenses regardless of how rortish we ordinary people may think. It’s a bit like the FBT rules that allow novated lease arrangements.

  38. victoria@2177


    davidwh

    Operative word is that Dreyfus has repaid 466.00. Abbott refuses to repay the 1300.00 for ironman cos he reckons it was a community event in a marginal seat

    Plus abbott is the PM and the tories are the Government.

    Plus abbott is refusing reform of this extensive abuse and no remorse from him or Barnaby and co.

    A PM who promised –

    [ We will be a no surprises, no excuses government, because you are sick of nasty surprises and lame excuses from people that you have trusted with your future,” Mr Abbott said.

    …My ministers will not need to learn how to be a good government because they have been one before.

    I am offering what should be normal: careful, collegial, consultative, straightforward government that says what it means and does what it says. ]

    Yeah right – that didn’t last long…..

  39. Davidwh

    To say something is a rort is a find line as many sorts of claims exist in the workforce which to people outside look like rorts.

    A corporate that hosts a networking lunch can claim the lunch as an expense even if he/she doesn’t eat every dish.

    I remember attending a function once with a dozen people and at the end the host wiped out the company credit care and paid the bill.

    Afterwords i found out that it was about 80 per head.

  40. Apologies if it has been mentioned somewhere on pages 1-44, but Wills has finally been removed from the “Not yet determined” category on the AEC website and has been resolved as a Labor v Greens Two Candidate Preferred contest. The Liberal candidate was overtaken for second place by the Green after preferences were distributed.

  41. [But what was the $466 for?]

    Apparently Dreyfus claimed two days accomodation when he was in fact holidaying at a ski resort. Look it seems to be a genuine mistake and that is why the guidelines are there to enable people to correct genuine mistakes. However it does highlight the sloppyness of the current system and the urgent need to clarify what are genuine claims.

  42. host pulled out the company credit card and paid the bill

    Clearly my election promise to eliminate typos is going well

  43. Jon Faine on ABC 774 Melbourne interviewed the Brisbane based David Littler or Liddler the chairman of the Motoring Enthusiasts Party about why the Melbourne campaign director David Campbell was sacked / resigned immediately after the election. Faine also asked why Senator-elect Ricky Muir had gone into hiding.

    Faine raised the idea that the Motoring Enthusiasts Party was going to sack Senator-elect Ricky Muir and replace him with . . . . [a banana-bender.] Faine asked if this was acceptable behaviour in a democracy, surely Victorians have a right to hear from the representative they elected to Parliament. I bet I wasn’t the only listener who remembered that in 1973/4 Joh Bjelke-Petersen had filled a Senate vacancy caused by the death of a Labor Senator with a man who sided with the Liberals

    Yet another reason for Senate reform

    http://blogs.abc.net.au/victoria/2013/10/australian-motoring-enthusiast-party-plagued-by-internal-feuding-janet-powell-denied-a-state-funeral.html?site=melbourne&program=melbourne_mornings

  45. davidwh – ‘rorting’ is not about breaking the rules, it’s about abusing a system. If the rules permit the abuse then the rules need to change, but rorting usually occurs within the rules (otherwise it’s ‘illegal’ or other strong, clear-cut terms).

    One dictionary definition of ‘to rort’: “to take unfair advantage of something” which seems a pretty good definition to me. Talking about “unfair” implies it’s a subjective matter rather than a legalistic interpretation of whether something is “within the rules”.

    And yes, it’s politics colliding with ethical assessments. That’s always bound to end in tears, but the politicians have the power to correct the situation, they just need to do it and behave appropriately. And yes, that ball is clearly in the Abbott government’s court now.

  48. [victoria
    Posted Tuesday, October 8, 2013 at 4:12 pm | Permalink
    davidwh

    Operative word is that Dreyfus has repaid 466.00. Abbott refuses to repay the 1300.00 for ironman cos he reckons it was a community event in a marginal seat]

    I don’t understand why the fact a seat is marginal or not matters in justifying this claim. If anything it shows Abbott only went for party political purposes and not parliamentary duties. Shouldn’t the Liberal party fork up for these trips not the taxpayer.

  49. [It was a nightmare to see Manly blow a winning lead in the second half from 18-8 to go down after a series of shocking refereeing decisions went against them.]

    Manly only know how to whinge. Wolfman needs a hair cut

Comments Page 44 of 45
1 … 43 44 45

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *