Coffs Harbour

Margin: Nationals 27.3%
Region: North Coast
Federal: Cowper

Candidates in ballot paper order

	JUNE SMITH Labor (bottom) ANNETTE GUERRY No Land Tax IAN SUTHERLAND Christian Democratic Party CRAIG CHRISTIE Greens ANDREW FRASER Nationals (top)

Held by Nationals veteran Andrew Fraser, the electorate of Coffs Harbour encompasses the town itself and its neighbouring centre of Sawtell immediately to the south, along with further coastal territory as far as Corindi Beach 30 kilometres to the north. The redistribution has transferred approximately 3300 voters around the coastal town of Urunga to its southern neighbour Oxley, while adding 1500 around Corindi Beach from Clarence, with little impact on the margin. The electorate was created in 1981 in place of the abolished Raleigh, and the two seats between them have been in National/Country Party hands since proportional representation was abolished in 1927.

Andrew Fraser became member at a by-election held in November 1990 after the retirement of Matt Singleton, at which he survived a 16% swing that cut the margin to 5.4%. He was promoted to the front bench in 1998 and attained the deputy party leadership after the 2007 election, but was forced to return to the back bench in December 2008 after an incident in parliament where he abused Labor MP John Aquilina and shoved party colleague Katrina Hodgkinson when she tried to intervene. This echoed an earlier incident in October 2005 when he charged across the parliamentary chamber at Roads Minister Joe Tripodi, who had been goading him about his failure to attend an announcement of new safety measures for the Pacific Highway, scene of numerous fatal accidents. By most accounts the episode did him no harm at all in the eyes of his constituents.

Corrections, complaints and feedback to William Bowe at pollbludger-at-bigpond-dot-com. Read William’s blog, The Poll Bludger.

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