2001 Queensland state election
An election was held in the Australian state of Queensland on 17 February 2001 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The result of the election was the return of the Labor Party (ALP) government of Premier Peter Beattie, with an increased majority. Labor won 66 seats, easily the most it has ever won in Queensland and one of Labor's best-ever results nationwide. There was a 10.07% swing towards Labor, while One Nation suffered a 13.98% swing against it, losing eight seats (five of which were held by the newly formed City Country Alliance after an internal split in December 1999).
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All 89 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 45 Assembly seats were needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 92.59 ( 0.26 pp) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The top map shows the first party preference by electorate. The bottom map shows the final two-party preferred vote result by electorate. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The longstanding coalition between the Nationals and Liberals, led by Nationals leader (and former premier) Rob Borbidge recorded only a 2.39% swing against it. However, its support in Brisbane all but vanished; it was reduced to only one seat in the capital. Largely due to losses in Brisbane, the Coalition suffered an overall 17-seat loss. This included only three seats for the Liberals, easily the worst showing for the urban non-Labor party in Queensland since it adopted the Liberal banner in 1948. The 'Just Vote 1' strategy adopted by the Labor campaign (capitalising on Queensland's optional preferential voting system) was also considered to be effective in reducing preference flows between the Coalition parties, thereby dampening the combined strength of the conservative parties.[1]
Key dates
Date | Event |
---|---|
23 January 2001 | Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2] |
29 January 2001 | Close of electoral rolls. |
30 January 2001 | Close of nominations. |
17 February 2001 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
22 February 2001 | The Beattie Ministry was reconstituted. |
2 March 2001 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
Results
Queensland state election, 17 February 2001[3] | ||||||
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Enrolled voters | 2,276,044 | |||||
Votes cast | 2,107,410 | Turnout | 92.59 | –0.26 | ||
Informal votes | 47,849 | Informal | 2.29 | +0.84 | ||
Summary of votes by party | ||||||
Party | Primary votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | |
Labor | 1,007,737 | 48.93 | +10.07 | 66 | +22 | |
Liberal | 294,968 | 14.32 | –1.77 | 3 | – 6 | |
Nationals | 291,605 | 14.16 | –1.02 | 12 | – 11 | |
One Nation | 179,076 | 8.69 | –13.98 | 3 | – 8 | |
Greens | 51,630 | 2.51 | +0.15 | 0 | ± 0 | |
City Country Alliance | 49,263 | 2.39 | +2.39 | 0 | ± 0 | |
Democrats | 7,029 | 0.34 | –1.27 | 0 | ± 0 | |
Christian Democrats | 919 | 0.04 | –0.07 | 0 | ± 0 | |
Independent | 177,334 | 8.61 | +6.44 | 5 | + 3 | |
Total | 2,059,561 | 89 | ||||
Seats changing hands
Seat | Pre-2001 | Swing | Post-2001 | ||||||
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Party | Member | Margin | Margin | Member | Party | ||||
Albert | National | Bill Baumann | 0.3 | -12.9 | 12.6 | Margaret Keech | Labor | ||
Aspley | Liberal | John Goss | 2.0 | -6.7 | 4.7 | Bonny Barry | Labor | ||
Broadwater | National | Allan Grice | 10.7 | -13.1 | 2.4 | Peta-Kaye Croft | Labor | ||
Burdekin | City Country Alliance1 | Jeff Knuth | 8.9 | -14.0 | 5.1 | Steve Rodgers | Labor | ||
Burleigh | National | Judy Gamin | 8.5 | -10.3 | 1.8 | Christine Smith | Labor | ||
Burnett | National | Doug Slack | 9.3 | -11.0 | 1.7 | Trevor Strong | Labor | ||
Charters Towers | National | Rob Mitchell | 3.2 | -5.4 | 2.2 | Christine Scott | Labor | ||
Clayfield | Liberal | Santo Santoro | 4.5 | -6.5 | 2.0 | Liddy Clark | Labor | ||
Darling Downs | National | notional | 5.3 | -6.4 | 1.1 | Ray Hopper | Independent | ||
Gaven | National | notional | 7.0 | -14.6 | 7.6 | Robert Poole | Labor | ||
Glass House | National | notional | 4.3 | -13.9 | 9.6 | Carolyn Male | Labor | ||
Gympie | National | Len Stephan | 3.5 | -6.8 | 3.3 | Elisa Roberts | One Nation | ||
Hervey Bay | City Country Alliance1 | David Dalgleish | 4.2 | -11.8 | 7.6 | Andrew McNamara | Labor | ||
Indooroopilly | Liberal | Denver Beanland | 0.4 | -3.3 | 2.9 | Ronan Lee | Labor | ||
Ipswich West | City Country Alliance1 | Jack Paff | 4.2 | -11.5 | 7.3 | Don Livingstone | Labor | ||
Kawana | Liberal | Bruce Laming | 16.1 | -18.7 | 2.6 | Chris Cummins | Labor | ||
Mudgeeraba | Liberal | Ray Connor | 11.6 | -18.4 | 6.8 | Dianne Reilly | Labor | ||
Noosa | Liberal | Bruce Davidson | 10.4 | -11.3 | 0.9 | Cate Molloy | Labor | ||
Pumicestone | City Country Alliance1 | Bill Feldman | 0.8 | -16.9 | 16.1 | Carryn Sullivan | Labor | ||
Redlands | National | John Hegarty | 0.6 | -7.5 | 6.9 | John English | Labor | ||
Southport | National | Mick Veivers | 3.1 | -13.9 | 10.8 | Peter Lawlor | Labor | ||
Tablelands | Independent2 | Shaun Nelson | 0.2 | N/A | 13.6 | Rosa Lee Long | One Nation | ||
Thuringowa | Independent3 | Ken Turner | 5.6 | -9.2 | 3.6 | Anita Phillips | Labor | ||
Toowoomba North | National | Graham Healy | 10.0 | -11.9 | 1.9 | Kerry Shine | Labor | ||
Whitsunday | City Country Alliance1 | Harry Black | 3.2 | -12.8 | 9.6 | Jan Jarratt | Labor |
Candidates in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
1Candidates Black, Dalgleish, Feldman, Paff and Prenzler were all elected as One Nation Party MLAs, but abandoned that party to form the City Country Alliance in December 1999.
2 Shaun Nelson was elected as a One Nation Party MLA in 1998, but left that party in February 1999 to sit as an independent.
3 Ken Turner was elected as a One Nation Party MLA in 1998, but left that party in 1999 to sit as an independent.
Post-election pendulum
NATIONAL/LIBERAL SEATS (15) | |||
Marginal | |||
Warrego | Howard Hobbs | NAT | 0.3% v IND |
Maroochydore | Fiona Simpson | NAT | 0.8% |
Moggill | David Watson | LIB | 0.9% |
Caloundra | Joan Sheldon | LIB | 1.0% |
Keppel | Vince Lester | NAT | 1.5% |
Beaudesert | Kev Lingard | NAT | 2.0% |
Callide | Jeff Seeney | NAT | 2.3% v ONP |
Hinchinbrook | Marc Rowell | NAT | 2.8% v ONP |
Mirani | Ted Malone | NAT | 3.8% |
Robina | Bob Quinn | LIB | 4.0% |
Surfers Paradise | Rob Borbidge | NAT | 5.3% |
Fairly safe | |||
Toowoomba South | Mike Horan | NAT | 7.9% |
Cunningham | Stuart Copeland | NAT | 8.6% |
Gregory | Vaughan Johnson | NAT | 9.3% |
Safe | |||
Southern Downs | Lawrence Springborg | NAT | 16.8% |
CROSSBENCH SEATS (8) | |||
Maryborough | John Kingston | IND | 0.5% v ALP |
Darling Downs | Ray Hopper | IND | 1.1% v NAT |
Gympie | Elisa Roberts | ONP | 3.3% v ALP |
Gladstone | Liz Cunningham | IND | 3.5% v ALP |
Lockyer | Bill Flynn | ONP | 7.3% v ALP |
Tablelands | Rosa Lee Long | ONP | 13.8% v ALP |
Nanango | Dorothy Pratt | IND | 17.1% v ALP |
Nicklin | Peter Wellington | IND | 23.4% v ONP |
Subsequent changes
- After losing the election, Opposition Leader Rob Borbidge (Surfers Paradise) resigned his position as Leader of the Nationals and his seat. In the resulting by-election, held on 5 May 2001, Surfers Paradise was won by Lex Bell, an independent former mayor. Borbidge was replaced as Nationals leader by Mike Horan (Toowoomba South), who in turn was replaced by Lawrence Springborg (Southern Downs) in February 2003.
- Dr David Watson (Moggill) resigned as Leader of the Liberal Party in favour of Bob Quinn (Robina) on 28 February 2001.
- Ray Hopper (Darling Downs), after being elected as an Independent, joined the National Party in December 2001.
- On 18 April 2002, Elisa Roberts (Gympie) resigned from the One Nation Party and sat as an Independent, reducing that party's total to two seats.
- On 23 March 2003, John Kingston (Maryborough), a former member of One Nation now sitting as an independent, resigned his seat. Chris Foley, another independent, won the by-election on 8 May.
References
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-01-18/why-campbell-newman-advocates-just-vote-1/9388552
- Electoral Commission of Queensland (June 2001). Queensland Election 2001: Statistical Returns. p. 6. ISBN 0-7242-6838-3.
- Australian Government and Politics Database. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 17 February 2001". Retrieved 22 February 2009.