Division of Fairfax

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

Fairfax
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Fairfax in Queensland, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created1984
MPTed O'Brien
PartyLiberal National Party
NamesakeRuth Fairfax
Electors114,127 (2019)
Area1,004 km2 (387.6 sq mi)
DemographicRural

History
Ruth Fairfax, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 and is named after Ruth Fairfax, founder of the Country Women's Association. It is located in the Sunshine Coast region north of Brisbane and includes the towns of Coolum, Yaroomba, Marcoola, Mudjimba, Maroochydore, Buderim, Woombye, Bli Bli, Yandina, Nambour, Mapleton, Kenilworth and Eumundi.[1]

While the Sunshine Coast is traditionally a conservative area, Fairfax is located in a particularly conservative portion of the Sunshine Coast, and as such has always been held by a centre-right party. Originally a safe seat for the National Party, demographic change has made it equally safe for the Liberal Party.

It came to national attention in the 2013 federal election, when Clive Palmer, the founder of the Palmer United Party, narrowly won it by 53 votes. Before then, the Coalition's hold on the seat had only been seriously threatened twice, in 1998 and 2007. At all other times before 2013, it was a fairly safe to safe Coalition seat.

Palmer did not run for reelection, and it was widely expected that it would revert to the merged Liberal National Party; the LNP would have easily retained it in a "traditional" two-party matchup with Labor. As expected, Palmer's 2013 opponent, Ted O'Brien, won it resoundingly.

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Evan Adermann
(1927–2001)		 Nationals 1 December 1984 –
19 February 1990		 Previously held the Division of Fisher. Retired
  Alex Somlyay
(1946–)		 Liberal 24 March 1990 –
19 July 2010		 Retired
  Liberal Nationals 19 July 2010 –
5 August 2013
  Clive Palmer
(1954–)		 Palmer United 7 September 2013 –
9 May 2016		 Retired
  Ted O'Brien
(1974–)		 Liberal Nationals 2 July 2016 –
present		 Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Fairfax
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Queensland § Fairfax[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Fairfax[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal National Ted O'Brien 48,451 49.62 +1.12
Labor Julie McGlone 20,976 21.48 +0.85
Greens Sue Etheridge 12,291 12.59 −0.07
One Nation Paul Henselin 7,661 7.85 −1.83
United Australia Kylie Cowling 2,987 3.06 +3.06
Conservative National Jake Ryan 1,502 1.54 +1.54
Sustainable Australia Richard Belcher 1,410 1.44 +1.44
Independent Sinim Australie 1,318 1.35 +1.35
Liberal Democrats Bertrand Cadart 1,044 1.07 +1.07
Total formal votes 97,640 93.57 −0.19
Informal votes 6,715 6.43 +0.19
Turnout 104,355 91.44 +0.62
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal National Ted O'Brien 61,944 63.44 +2.57
Labor Julie McGlone 35,696 36.56 −2.57
Liberal National hold Swing+2.57

References
  1. Australian Electoral Commission Map of the federal division Fairfax, accessed:07 May 2019
  2. Fairfax, QLD, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

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