Electoral district of Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. Located in the central portion of the Gold Coast, it is named for Surfers Paradise, the largest suburb of the Gold Coast.[1]

Surfers Paradise Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Electoral map of Surfers Paradise 2017
State	Queensland
MP	John-Paul Langbroek
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Surfers Paradise
Electors	32,533 (2017)
Area	26 km^2 (10.0 sq mi)
Coordinates	27°59′S 153°24′E
Electorates around Surfers Paradise: Bonney Broadwater Coral Sea Southport Surfers Paradise Coral Sea Gaven Mudgeeraba Mermaid Beach Coral Sea

Electoral map of Surfers Paradise 2008

While the Gold Coast has historically tilted conservative, Surfers Paradise has historically been a particularly conservative seat even by Gold Coast standards. It is one of the few areas of the Gold Coast where Labor has never been competitive at the state level. It was originally a National seat for all but one term from its creation in 1972 to 2001, with its best-known member being Rob Borbidge, the last National Premier of Queensland.

This tradition was broken after Borbidge resigned in the wake of the Coalition's massive defeat in the 2001 state election. Due to voter anger at having to go back to the polls for the second time in three months, the Nationals' primary vote plummeted to eight percent, allowing the former mayor of the Gold Coast, Lex Bell, to win as an independent. The seat reverted to form at the 2004 state election, in which Bell was defeated by Liberal John-Paul Langbroek on a large swing.

Since then, the seat has been one of the safest seats in Queensland for the Liberals and the merged Liberal National Party of Queensland. It is presently the safest LNP seat in the state, with a 19.8 percent swing needed for Labor to win it. As a measure of how conservative this seat is, Langbroek suffered a swing of 10 percent in 2015, but still retained it with a comfortable majority of 19.2 percent. Langbroek briefly served as opposition leader from 2011 to 2012—the first member from the Liberal side of the merger to hold the post.

The seat is almost entirely within the equally conservative federal seat of Moncrieff.

Members for Surfers Paradise

Member		Party	Term
	(Sir) Bruce Small	Country	1972–1974
		National	1974–1977
	Bruce Bishop	Liberal	1977–1980
	Rob Borbidge	National	1980–2001
	Lex Bell	Independent	2001–2004
	John-Paul Langbroek	Liberal	2004–2008
		Liberal National	2008–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Surfers Paradise

2017 Queensland state election: Surfers Paradise[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal National	John-Paul Langbroek	16,127	63.2	+1.2
	Labor	Tony Walker	5,715	22.4	+1.3
	Greens	Scott Turner	2,323	9.1	+1.5
	Independent	Chris Manley	785	3.1	+3.1
	Independent	Tylere Baker-Pearce	556	2.2	+2.2
Total formal votes			25,506	94.5	−3.3
Informal votes			1,497	5.5	+3.3
Turnout			27,003	81.0	−0.5
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	John-Paul Langbroek	17,799	69.8	−0.6
	Labor	Tony Walker	7,707	30.2	+0.6
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−0.6

References

1. "Representatives of Queensland State Electorates 1860-2017" (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2012-2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
2. 2017 State General Election - Surfers Paradise - District Summary, ECQ.

External links

• Green, Antony. "Electorate Profile". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.