Division of Capricornia

Capricornia Australian House of Representatives Division
Map Interactive map of boundaries
Created	1901
MP	Michelle Landry
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Tropic of Capricorn
Electors	108,688 (2022)
Area	90,903 km2 (35,097.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural and provincial

The Division of Capricornia is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland.

Capricornia is a traditionally a Labor-voting electorate, having been Labor-held for 72 years of the 100 years since 1922. However, Capricornia has recently trended towards the Coalition since 2013. This political realignment was particularly noticeable at the 2019 Australian federal election as blue-collar but highly paid mining workers deserted Labor for Pauline Hanson's One Nation and the Coalition.^[1] Similar voting trends can be found in the nearby electorates of Flynn, Dawson, and Leichhardt.^[1]

The current MP is Michelle Landry, a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland.

Geography

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.^[2]

The Division of Capricornia includes the city of Rockhampton, as well as neighbouring towns such as Yeppoon.

History

The division was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named after the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through the Division. It is located on the central Queensland coast and its centre has always been the city of Rockhampton. On its current boundaries it also includes the town of Yeppoon and Ooralea, Marian and Sarina, all southern suburbs of Mackay.

The first election saw Alexander Paterson, with 51% of votes, narrowly elected over the ALP candidate Wallace Nelson. For most of its subsequent history it has been a fairly safe seat for the ALP. This was especially true when Gladstone was part of the seat from 1901 to 1984. Even after Gladstone was redistributed to Hinkler in 1984 (it is now part of Flynn), it remained one of the few non-metropolitan seats where Labor consistently did well. Labor held it for all but two terms from 1961 to 2013, the two exceptions being the high-tide elections of 1975 and 1996. Its best-known member was Frank Forde, who was briefly Prime Minister of Australia in 1945.

Capricornia is currently held by Michelle Landry for the Liberal National Party who in 2016, became the first conservative MP to serve more than one term in the seat since George Pearce.

Members

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Alexander Paterson (1844–1908)	Independent Free Trade	30 March 1901 – 23 November 1903	Retired
		David Thomson (1856–1926)	Labour	16 December 1903 – 12 December 1906	Lost seat
		Edward Archer (1871–1940)	Anti-Socialist	12 December 1906 – 26 May 1909	Was the first MP who chose to make an affirmation rather than swearing an oath. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Normanby in 1914
			Commonwealth Liberal	26 May 1909 – 13 April 1910
		William Higgs (1862–1951)	Labor	13 April 1910 – January 1920	Previously a member of the Senate. Served as minister under Hughes. Lost seat
			Independent	January 1920 – September 1920
			Nationalist	September 1920 – 16 December 1922
		Frank Forde (1890–1983)	Labor	16 December 1922 – 28 September 1946	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Rockhampton. Served as minister under Scullin, Curtin and Chifley. Served as deputy prime minister under Curtin and Chifley. Served as Prime Minister in 1945. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Flinders in 1955
		Charles Davidson (1897–1985)	Country	28 September 1946 – 10 December 1949	Transferred to the Division of Dawson
		George Pearce (1917–1992)	Liberal	10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961	Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Menzies. Lost seat
		George Gray (1903–1967)	Labor	9 December 1961 – 2 August 1967	Died in office
		Dr Doug Everingham (1923–2017)	Labor	30 September 1967 – 13 December 1975	Served as minister under Whitlam. Lost seat
		Colin Carige (1938–2002)	National Country	13 December 1975 – 10 December 1977	Lost seat
		Dr Doug Everingham (1923–2017)	Labor	10 December 1977 – 26 October 1984	Retired
		Keith Wright (1942–2015)	Labor	26 October 1984 – 1993	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Rockhampton. Lost preselection and then lost seat
			Independent	1993 – 13 March 1993
		Marjorie Henzell (1948–)	Labor	13 March 1993 – 2 March 1996	Lost seat
		Paul Marek (1964–)	Nationals	2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998	Lost seat
		Kirsten Livermore (1969–)	Labor	3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013	Retired
		Michelle Landry (1962–)	Liberal Nationals	7 September 2013 – present	Incumbent

Election results

  Liberal

  Country/National

  United Australia Party

References

External links

• Division of Capricornia (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission

22°03′04″S 148°11′20″E / 22.051°S 148.189°E / -22.051; 148.189

This page was last edited on 25 February 2024, at 21:10