| Bundaberg Queensland—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
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Map of the electoral district of Bundaberg, 2017
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| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Tom Smith | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Bundaberg | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 35,296 (2020) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 108 km2 (41.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Provincial | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 24°52′S 153°20′E / 24.867°S 153.333°E / -24.867; 153.333 | ||||||||||||||
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Bundaberg is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in central Queensland, Australia. It covers the city of Bundaberg, as well as the immediate surrounding area.[1]
The electoral district of Bundaberg was created by the Electoral Districts Act of 1887 which abolished the electoral district of Mulgrave that had included the Bundaberg area.[1] The first election held in the seat of Bundaberg was the 1888 election.
The city's urban population has long made the seat a Labor stronghold. This changed in 2005 when the practices of rogue surgeon Jayant Patel at the Bundaberg Base Hospital were uncovered. The Beattie government was seriously embarrassed by the subsequent Commissions of Inquiry into the matter, and as a result the seat was considered winnable for the Nationals.
In2020, the Labor Party won the seat by nine votes.[2] It is currently an extremely marginal seat.
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Walter Adams | Conservative | 1888–1890 | |
| Ministerial | 1890–1892 | ||
| George Hall | Labour | 1892–1893 | |
| Michael Duffy | Ministerial | 1893–1896 | |
| Thomas Glassey | Labour | 1896–1901 | |
| George Barber | Labor | 1901–1935 | |
| Bernard McLean | Labor | 1935–1941 | |
| Frank Barnes | Andrew Fisher Labor | 1941–1944 | |
| Frank Barnes Labor | 1944–1950 | ||
| Ted Walsh | Labor | 1950–1957 | |
| Queensland Labor | 1957–1963 | ||
| Independent | 1963–1969 | ||
| Lou Jensen | Labor | 1969–1976 | |
| Independent | 1976–1977 | ||
| Jim Blake | Labor | 1977–1983 | |
| Clem Campbell | Labor | 1983–1998 | |
| Nita Cunningham | Labor | 1998–2006 | |
| Jack Dempsey | National | 2006–2008 | |
| Liberal National | 2008–2015 | ||
| Leanne Donaldson | Labor | 2015–2017 | |
| David Batt | Liberal National | 2017–2020 | |
| Tom Smith | Labor | 2020–present | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Tom Smith | 13,053 | 43.12 | +8.76 | |
| Liberal National | David Batt | 12,577 | 41.55 | +6.03 | |
| One Nation | Stewart Jones | 1,766 | 5.83 | −16.60 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Ian Zunker | 1,669 | 5.51 | +5.51 | |
| Greens | Claire Ogden | 964 | 3.18 | −0.34 | |
| United Australia | Shane Smeltz | 244 | 0.81 | +0.81 | |
| Total formal votes | 30,273 | 96.48 | +1.20 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,105 | 3.52 | −1.20 | ||
| Turnout | 31,378 | 88.90 | −1.04 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Tom Smith | 15,141 | 50.01 | +4.21 | |
| Liberal National | David Batt | 15,132 | 49.99 | −4.21 | |
| Labor gain from Liberal National | Swing | +4.21 | |||
