Bundaberg

Margin: Liberal National 18.2%
Region: Central Coast
Federal: Hinkler

Candidates in ballot paper order

	MEG ANDERSON Greens RICHARD FREUDENBERG Independent JACK DEMPSEY Liberal National (top) ROBERT BROWN Palmer United Party LEANNE DONALDSON Labor (bottom)

The boundaries of the electorate of Bundaberg conform almost perfectly with the limits of the city that bears its name, excluding a few blocks placed in the electorate of Burnett, which entirely surrounds it. Now held for the Liberal National Party by senior Newman government minister Jack Dempsey on an imposing margin, the seat had been the scene of a 110-year losing streak for the conservative side of politics prior to his election in 2006. Labor’s only interruption during this period resulted from the Split of 1957, when sitting member Ted Walsh joined the Queensland Labor Party and continued to hold the seat until 1969, serving as an independent from 1962.

Labor’s defeat in 2006 came after the electorate provided the scene for the Beattie government’s biggest political disaster, the Jayant Patel “Doctor Death” affair. The party’s position in the electorate had in fact been deteriorating for some time, and it was only just able to withstand challenges from the Nationals in 1995 and One Nation in 1998. Labor was further encumbered in 2006 by the retirement of Nita Cunningham, a high-profile former mayor who had held the seat since 1998. The 6.3% swing to Nationals candidate Jack Dempsey was if anything surprisingly mild, but nonetheless sufficient to secure him a winning margin of 464 votes (1.0%).

Dempsey was a sergeant in the Queensland Police Service prior to entering parliament, and won promotion to shadow cabinet after the 2009 election. With the 2012 election victory he took on the relatively minor Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and multicultural affairs portfolios, but opportunity knocked two weeks later when David Gibson was sacked as Police and Community Safety Minister for driving while his licence was suspended on account of unpaid fines. The high-visibility portfolio was then assigned to Dempsey, and later reorganised as police, fire and emergency services in November 2013.

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

Back to Crikey’s Queensland election guide