Seat of the week: Groom

Located in the Darling Downs and dominated by Toowoomba, the seat of Groom has provided a secure electoral base for Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane through a parliamentary career going back to 1998.

Located in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Groom is dominated by the city of Toowoomba about 100 kilometres west of Brisbane, which accounts for slightly less than 80% of its population. Toowoomba is near the electorate’s eastern boundary, from which it extends westwards to Jondaryan and Pittsworth and northwards to Goombungee, along with sparsely populared rural areas further afield. The electorate was created with the expansion of parliament in 1984 as the successor to Darling Downs, which had existed since federation. Neither Darling Downs nor Groom has ever been held by Labor.

Teal and red numbers respectively indicate size of two-party majorities for the LNP and Labor. Click for larger image. Map boundaries courtesy of Ben Raue at The Tally Room.

Darling Downs was held by the major conservative movement of the time from 1901 until 1936, when Arthur Fadden gained it for the Country Party at a by-election held after the death of United Australia Party member Sir Littleton Groom, who gives the modern electorate its name. When parliament expanded in 1949, Fadden moved to the new seat of McPherson, and an agreement between the coalition parties reserved Darling Downs for the Liberals. It was accordingly won with little difficulty by Liberal candidate Reginald Swartz, who retained it until his retirement in 1972. A three-cornered contest ensued at the 1972 election, in which Country Party candidate Tom McVeigh secured a comfortable victory after outpolling the Liberal candidate by 32.3% to 22.5%. McVeigh carried on as member for Groom after 1984 and retired in February 1988, leading to another three-cornered contest at the ensuing by-election. This time the seat fell to the Liberals, whose candidate Bill Taylor outpolled the Nationals candidate by 33.3% to 28.8%. With Taylor’s retirement in 1998 the seat was bequeathed to its current member, Ian Macfarlane, who polled 33.1% on debut against 18.0% for One Nation and 15.2% for the Nationals. The Nationals again fielded a candidate against Macfarlane in 2001, but gave him little trouble.

Recognisable for a distinctive voice resulting from damage sustained to his larynx following a cancer operation in 2004, Macfarlane served as a minister in the Howard government from January 2001, first in the junior portfolio of small business, then attaining cabinet rank as Industry, Tourism and Resources Minister after the October 2001 election. He attained further seniority in opposition, holding the trade portfolio under Brendan Nelson and energy and resources under Malcolm Turnbull. When Tony Abbott became leader in December 2009 he was moved to infrastructure to make way for Nick Minchin, but he recovered energy and resources when Minchin retired from the front-bench the following March. With the election of the Abbott government he was allocated to an expanded industry portfolio that incorporated responsibility for mining and science, the lack of a dedicated portfolio for the latter inspiring some controversy.

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.

1,381 comments on “Seat of the week: Groom”

Comments Page 22 of 28
1 … 21 22 23 … 28

  3. I like it that the rules are the same for women and men, with modified rules for kids.

    I expect that heading the ball to be banned from modified children’s football in the future.

    I would like Abbott to go a game against the Matildas. He would be dragging his sorry aske off the pitch before half-time.

  5. victoria

    GeorgeBludger has been collecting pics of Abbott and his “team”. I remember the ladder one from last year, I think, but the full foolishness on ladder with no safety stuff was never shown. Just TA head looking serious.

  13. Now that Abbott has condemned a ‘yes’ vote on Scottish independence, will he require visitors to Scotland to prove they are not terrorists out to undermine the British empire?

  17. [Such sad words.]

    Yeah. Knew he didn’t have employment, but I’m hoping he isn’t being literal with the penury comment.

  19. Just sent an email to Malcolm Farnsworth regarding Australian Politics.com and prospects for its survival.

    I will advise any reply received.

  23. Of all of the things Abbott and his band of criminals have done, the goal to scupper the RET I find very very depressing.

  27. Re Henry @1021: Melbourne does tend to draw bigger crowds to sporting and other live events than Sydney. I put this down to:
    – better Winter weather in Sydney – pretty much all outdoor pursuits except swimming continue through Winter. So tgere are more alternatives.
    – Sydney traffic. To go anywhere where thousands of others are going involves kilometers of gridlocked traffic and snarled intersections, with parking expensive or unavailable when you arrive. Much easier to watch it on TV.

  30. that’s a bit harsh boys.

    steve – as i said earlier sydney swans, in sydney has higher average crowds than any NRL team. Sounds like excuses to me…

  36. As Phillip Williams is being or is confused

    “@estheraddley: Kristin Hrafnsson Wikileaks spokesman says #assange ready to leave at any moment if uK allows safe passage, but no plans to hand himself in”

  38. 1082
    ruawake
    Posted Monday, August 18, 2014 at 7:14 pm | PERMALINK
    [I think Rosemary Laing has no option other than resignation.]

    Why?

  40. Spare a thought for the cruel suffering Darwinites are about to suffer. Warmer thongs are already in desperately short supply.

    [Get out your winter clothing because it’s bloody freezing

    Darwin resident Lauren Wilson rugs up for the ‘coldocalypse’. Picture: Patrina Malone

    DARWIN is about to get as warm as Iceland in the next few days as the temperature drops to 16 degrees in the mornings.

    Weather Bureau senior forecaster Angeline Prasad said the morning temperature in the Top End would shock a few people.]
    http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/get-out-your-winter-clothing-because-its-bloody-freezing/story-fnk0b1zt-1227027151628

  42. It looks like we’re heading in the wrong direction.

    [Australia: “Solar Systems Pty Ltd. suspended plans for a 100-megawatt plant in the Australian state of Victoria amid growing uncertainty about the government’s commitment to develop clean-energy sources.” Bloomberg

    China: “The distributed solar generation industry is getting a big boost in China, where a new solar policy is expected to be announced later this month to encourage households and small businesses to install distributed solar projects, industry insiders said…China has set targets for installed solar capacity for this year. The overall target is 14 gW of solar capacity, with 6 gW in utility-scale facilities and 8 gW of distributed generation.” China Daily ]

  43. [Why?]

    For emailing the UK and bagging a colleague for no apparent reason. Not part of her job description, sounds vindictive.

  48. “@SpringStSauce: Seven News on #Galaxy poll: “Private polling puts Labor even further ahead in government-held marginal seats” #SpringSt”

    tweet one hour old

  50. Time for Assange to assist the Swedish authorities with their enquiries. This farce has gone on too long.

    Sexual assault is a serious crime in all its forms and investigations should be fully cooperated with.

Comments Page 22 of 28
1 … 21 22 23 … 28

Leave a Reply

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