The Division of Wide Bay is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. The current MP is Llew O'Brien of the National Party.

Wide Bay
Australian House of Representatives Division
Map
Map
Interactive map of boundaries
Created1901
MPLlew O'Brien
PartyNational[a]
NamesakeWide Bay, Queensland
Electors115,420 (2022)
Area14,227 km2 (5,493.1 sq mi)
DemographicRural and provincial

Geography

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Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[1]

History

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Wide Bay, a region in Queensland from which the division takes its name

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. Wide Bay is located in south east Queensland and includes the cities of Maryborough, Gympie, Noosa, all of Fraser Island, and inland areas extending west to Murgon.

Notable representatives have included three time Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, who was the seat's first member. However, it has been a conservative seat for most of its history; only one other Labor member has ever won it. Warren Truss, former leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, held the seat from 1990 to 2016.

Members

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Image Member Party Term Notes
    Andrew Fisher
(1862–1928)
Labor 30 March 1901
26 October 1915
Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Gympie. Served as minister under Watson. Served as Opposition Leader from 1909 to 1910, and from 1913 to 1914. Served as Prime Minister from 1908 to 1909, 1910 to 1913 and 1914 to 1915. Resigned to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
    Edward Corser
(1852–1928)
Liberal 11 December 1915
17 February 1917
Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Maryborough. Died in office. Son was Bernard Corser
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
31 July 1928
    Bernard Corser
(1882–1967)
Country 3 September 1928
21 April 1954
Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Burnett. Retired. Father was Edward Corser
    William Brand
(1888–1979)
29 May 1954
14 October 1958
Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Isis. Retired
    Henry Bandidt
(1906–1990)
22 November 1958
9 December 1961
Lost seat
    Brendan Hansen
(1922–1999)
Labor 9 December 1961
18 May 1974
Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Whitlam. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Maryborough in 1977
    Clarrie Millar
(1925–2017)
Country 18 May 1974
2 May 1975
Retired
  National Country 2 May 1975 –
16 October 1982
  Nationals 16 October 1982 –
19 February 1990
    Warren Truss
(1948–)
24 March 1990
9 May 2016
Served as minister under Howard, Abbott and Turnbull. Served as Deputy Prime Minister under Abbott and Turnbull. Retired
    Llew O'Brien
(1972–)
2 July 2016
10 February 2020
Incumbent
  Liberal National[b] 10 February 2020 –
7 December 2020
  National[a] 7 December 2020 –
present

Election results

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2022 Australian federal election: Wide Bay[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal National Llew O'Brien 41,601 43.47 −3.62
Labor Geoff Williams 20,345 21.26 −0.49
One Nation Nathan Buckley 9,765 10.20 −0.63
Greens Craig Armstrong 9,088 9.50 −0.44
United Australia Tracy Bennett 4,406 4.60 0.99
Independent Kelli Jacobi 4,106 4.29 4.29
Independent Tim Jerome 2,737 2.86 −1.64
Informed Medical Options Andrea Newland 2,097 2.19 2.19
Australian Values Daniel Williams 1,057 1.10 1.10
Federation John Woodward 501 0.52 0.52
Total formal votes 95,703 93.58 −1.68
Informal votes 6,569 6.42 1.68
Turnout 102,272 88.69 −2.98
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal National Llew O'Brien 58,708 61.34 −1.81
Labor Geoff Williams 36,995 38.66 1.81
Liberal National hold Swing −1.81
 
Alluvial diagram for preference flows in the seat of Wide Bay in the 2022 federal election.  Y indicates at what stage the winning candidate had over 50% of the votes and was declared the winner.

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland sitting with the federal parliamentary Liberal Party.
  2. ^ O'Brien left the Nationals partyroom on 10 February 2002, but did not sit as an independent and continued to support the Coalition government.[2] He was readmitted to the Nationals partyroom on 7 December 2020.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ Doran, Matthew; Borys, Stephanie (3 February 2020). "Barnaby Joyce backer Llew O'Brien quits Nationals party room". ABC News. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  3. ^ Murphy, Jamieson (7 December 2020). "Rebel Nationals MP Llew O'Brien rejoins party after 10-month sabbatical". FarmOnline. Retrieved 15 January 2021.
  4. ^ Wide Bay, QLD, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
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25°54′47″S 152°33′32″E / 25.913°S 152.559°E / -25.913; 152.559