Stretton

Margin: Liberal National 9.6%
Region: Southern Brisbane
Federal: Moreton/Rankin

Candidates in ballot paper order

	FREYA OSTAPOVITCH Liberal National (top) DUNCAN PEGG Labor (bottom) DAVID FORDE Independent BRIAN SADLER Greens

Hitherto held by Labor since its creation in 2001, Stretton participated in the particularly devastating swing against Labor in southern Brisbane at the 2012 election, which turned a Labor margin of 9.5% into a Liberal National Party margin of 9.6%. The electorate extends south-westwards from Underwood on the inland edge of the South East Freeway, about 15 kilometres south of the city, to Stretton and Drewvale. It is the most ethnically diverse electorate in the state, ranking number one for proportion of residents of Arabic, Chinese and Indian extraction.

Stretton was created as the successor to the abolished seat of Sunnybank, which has re-emerged as a separate electorate following the 2009 redistribution, now bordering Stretton to the south. Stephen Robertson held Sunnybank and then Stretton for Labor from 1992 until his retirement in 2012, his previous closest shave having been a 1.4% margin in Sunnybank in 1995. The 2012 result delivered the seat to Freya Ostapovitch, a former mental health nurse and vice-president of the Logan Chamber of Commerce, who had made her first bid for parliament in Waterford in 2009.

Labor has again preselected its candidate from 2012, Duncan Pegg, a lawyer with the National Union of Workers aligned to the Labor Forum/AWU faction. It was reported before the last election that the endorsement was expected to go to David Forde, an electorate officer and campaign manager to Stephen Robertson who shared his alignment with the Left. However, a dispute with the party led Forde to run as an independent, and he polled a creditable 19.0%.

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

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