Division of Herbert

The Division of Herbert is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Herbert, to the Australian House of Representatives.

Herbert
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Herbert in Queensland, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created1901
MPPhillip Thompson
PartyLiberal National
NamesakeSir Robert Herbert
Electors108,434 (2019)
Area946 km2 (365.3 sq mi)
DemographicProvincial

History
Sir Robert Herbert, the division's namesake

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is located in northern Queensland, and is named after Sir Robert Herbert, the first Premier of Queensland (1859–1866). It has always been based around the city of Townsville.

On its original boundaries, it covered most of northeastern Queensland, stretching from Mackay to the Torres Strait. Much of its northern portion, including Cairns and the Cape York Peninsula, transferred to Kennedy in 1934 (these areas are now part of Leichhardt. Its south-eastern portion, including Mackay, became Dawson in 1949. By 1984, successive redistributions cut back the seat to little more than Townsville and its inner suburbs.

The seat had long been one of Australia's noteworthy bellwether seats. It was won by the party of government for all but two terms from the 1966 election until the 2007 election, where it was hotly contested with local identity and businessman George Colbran pre-selected by Labor to contest Herbert, however Liberal incumbent Peter Lindsay managed to retain the seat with a wafer-thin 50.2 percent two-party vote from a 6 percent two-party swing while his party lost government. Ewen Jones of the merged Liberal National Party succeeded Lindsay and retained the seat at the following two elections with increased margins.

Herbert featured the closest result of any division at the 2016 federal election. Following a recount, the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed on 31 July that Labor's Cathy O'Toole defeated the LNP incumbent by 37 votes, becoming the first Labor member to win the seat since 1996.[1][2] The LNP considered a legal challenge to the result.[2][3]

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Fred Bamford
(1849–1934)		 Labor 30 March 1901 –
14 November 1916		 Served as minister under Hughes. Retired
  National Labor 14 November 1916 –
17 February 1917
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
3 October 1925
  Lewis Nott
(1886–1951)		 Nationalist 14 November 1925 –
17 November 1928		 Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Australian Capital Territory in 1949
  George Martens
(1874–1949)		 Labor 17 November 1928 –
16 August 1946		 Retired
  Bill Edmonds
(1903–1968)		 Labor 28 September 1946 –
22 November 1958		 Lost seat
  John Murray
(1915–2009)		 Liberal 22 November 1958 –
9 December 1961		 Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Clayfield in 1963
  Ted Harding
(1921–2004)		 Labor 9 December 1961 –
26 November 1966		 Lost seat
  Duke Bonnett
(1916–1994)		 Liberal 26 November 1966 –
10 November 1977		 Retired
  Gordon Dean
(1943–)		 Liberal 10 December 1977 –
5 March 1983		 Lost seat
  Ted Lindsay
(1942–)		 Labor 5 March 1983 –
2 March 1996		 Lost seat
  Peter Lindsay
(1944–)		 Liberal 2 March 1996 –
19 July 2010		 Retired
  Ewen Jones
(1960–)		 Liberal Nationals 21 August 2010 –
2 July 2016		 Lost seat
  Cathy O'Toole
(1956–)		 Labor 2 July 2016 –
18 May 2019		 Lost seat
  Phillip Thompson
(1988–)		 Liberal Nationals 18 May 2019 –
present		 Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Herbert
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Queensland § Herbert[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Herbert[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal National Phillip Thompson 34,112 37.11 +1.61
Labor Cathy O'Toole 23,393 25.45 −5.00
One Nation Amy Lohse 10,189 11.09 −2.44
Katter's Australian Nanette Radeck 9,007 9.80 +2.93
Greens Sam Blackadder 6,721 7.31 +1.05
United Australia Greg Dowling 5,239 5.70 +5.70
Conservative National Tamara Durant 1,671 1.82 +1.82
Animal Justice Mackenzie Severns 1,585 1.72 +1.72
Total formal votes 91,917 94.10 +0.98
Informal votes 5,759 5.90 −0.98
Turnout 97,676 90.06 −0.83
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal National Phillip Thompson 53,641 58.36 +8.38
Labor Cathy O'Toole 38,276 41.64 −8.38
Liberal National gain from Labor Swing+8.38
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References
  1. Labor takes seat of Herbert, leaving Malcolm Turnbull with majority of just one seat: SMH 31 July 2016
  2. Labor wins seat of Herbert after recount: ABC 31 July 2016
  3. "LNP to consider legal action if it loses Herbert recount". Courier Mail. 29 July 2016.
  4. Herbert, QLD, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

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