Morayfield

Margin: Liberal National 5.6%
Region: Northern Brisbane
Federal: Longman

Candidates in ballot paper order

	STEPHEN BECK Independent MARK RYAN Labor (bottom) WILLIAM ROGAN Palmer United Party ANDREW CHARLES TYRRELL Independent DARREN GRIMWADE Liberal National (top) PAUL COSTIN Greens JON EATON Family First

Located on Brisbane’s northern outskirts, Morayfield looked to be a fairly safe seat for Labor when it was created at the 2009 election, with a notional margin of 10.7%. However, the Campbell Newman landslide three years later took care of that, delivering the Liberal National Party a swing that erased Labor’s 9.1% margin from the 2009 election with 5.6% to spare. The defeated Labor candidate, Mark Ryan, will attempt to recover the seat at the coming election.

Morayfield extends from the suburb bearing its name northwards to Caboolture South and westwards into semi-rural territory around Moorina. Most of this territory had previously been in the electorate of Kallangur, which the 2009 redistribution changed almost beyond recognition. The electorate is characterised by a large number of young mortgage-paying families, and a low level of ethnic diversity.

Mark Ryan was a 25-year-old lawyer at the time of his election in 2009, factionally aligned with the Left. He won preselection after staring down Carolyn Male of the Labor Forum/AWU faction, who was left looking for an alternative berth when the redistribution eliminated the margin in her existing seat of Glass House (she would ultimately be accommodated in Pine Rivers, made available by Linda Lavarch’s retirement). The LNP member since Ryan’s defeat in 2012 has been Darren Grimwade, a former pizza shop owner who has served on the back bench throughout his debut term.

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

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