Division of Maranoa
| Maranoa Australian House of Representatives Division | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Interactive map of boundaries since the 2019 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1901 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | David Littleproud | ||||||||||||||
| Party | National[a] | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Maranoa River | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 115,570 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 729,897 km2 (281,814.8 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
The Division of Maranoa is an Australian electoral division in Queensland.
Maranoa extends across the Southern Outback and is socially conservative. It is the largest electorate in Queensland and the fifth largest federal electorate in Australia, being three times the size of Victoria.[1] In the 2016 and 2019 federal elections, Pauline Hanson's One Nation finished ahead of Labor on preference count, reaching a peak in 2016 with 17.82% of the primary vote.[1]
Maranoa is a stronghold for the Liberal National Party of Queensland. The current MP is David Littleproud, former Minister of Agriculture and current leader of the National Party.
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]
History
The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named after the Maranoa River, which runs through the division. Located in the mostly rural southwestern portion of the state, towns located in Maranoa include Charleville, Cunnamulla, Dalby, Roma, Kingaroy, Stanthorpe, Winton and Warwick.
Maranoa is a comfortably safe seat for The Nationals; it was the first Queensland seat won by that party. Originally a safe Labor seat, it has been in National hands for all but three years since a 1921 by-election, and without interruption since 1943. Maranoa was taken by the then-Country Party in 1943 despite a landslide Labor victory nationally—one of only seven seats won by the Country Party. At the 2016 and 2019 federal elections, One Nation overtook Labor for second place after preferences were distributed.
Presently, Maranoa is the Coalition's safest seat; Littleproud sits on a majority of 25 percent against Labor or 22 percent against One Nation. As of 2022 this is the only Federal seat won by the government from Labor in a by-election in over 100 years.
The seat was nicknamed the 'Kingdom of Maranoa' by John Howard after it returned the highest 'No' vote in the 1999 referendum on Australia becoming a republic. The seat's then MP, Bruce Scott, put the result down to the electorate being "well informed".[3] 24 years later, in the Indigenous Voice referendum, the seat would again return the highest 'No' vote against the proposition; earning it the new nickname 'The No Capital of Australia'.[4]
Members
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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|
Jim Page (1861–1921) |
Labor | 30 March 1901 – 3 June 1921 |
Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Fisher and Hughes. Died in office | |
|
James Hunter (1882–1968) |
Country | 30 July 1921 – 27 August 1940 |
Served as minister under Lyons. Retired | |
|
Frank Baker (1873–1959) |
Labor | 21 September 1940 – 21 August 1943 |
Lost seat | |
|
Charles Adermann (1896–1979) |
Country | 21 August 1943 – 10 December 1949 |
Transferred to the Division of Fisher | |
|
Charles Russell (1907–1977) |
10 December 1949 – 7 October 1950 |
Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Dalby. Lost seat | ||
| Independent | 7 October 1950 – 28 April 1951 | ||||
|
Wilfred Brimblecombe (1898–1973) |
Country | 28 April 1951 – 31 October 1966 |
Retired | |
.jpg)
|
James Corbett (1908–2005) |
26 November 1966 – 2 May 1975 |
Retired | ||
| National Country | 2 May 1975 – 19 September 1980 | ||||
|
Ian Cameron (1938–) |
18 October 1980 – 16 October 1982 |
Retired | ||
| Nationals | 16 October 1982 – 19 February 1990 | ||||
|
Bruce Scott (1943–) |
24 March 1990 – 9 May 2016 |
Served as minister under Howard. Served as Deputy Speaker under Gillard, Rudd, Abbott and Turnbull. Retired | ||
|
David Littleproud (1976–) |
2 July 2016 – present |
Served as minister under Turnbull and Morrison. Incumbent. Currently the leader of the National Party | ||
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal National | David Littleproud | 51,947 | 53.18 | −3.08 | |
| Labor | Alex Newman | 15,675 | 16.05 | +0.76 | |
| One Nation | Sharon Duncan | 12,018 | 12.30 | +0.41 | |
| People First | Rod Draper | 5,552 | 5.68 | +5.68 | |
| Greens | Elizabeth Johnston | 5,032 | 5.15 | +0.28 | |
| Family First | John Matthew Whittle | 2,802 | 2.87 | +2.87 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | Jonathan Allen Cumes | 2,764 | 2.83 | +1.76 | |
| Libertarian | Michael Offerdahl | 1,897 | 1.94 | +1.94 | |
| Total formal votes | 97,687 | 94.57 | −2.07 | ||
| Informal votes | 5,606 | 5.43 | +2.07 | ||
| Turnout | 103,293 | 89.42 | +1.03 | ||
| Notional two-party-preferred count | |||||
| Liberal National | David Littleproud | 72,253 | 73.96 | +1.84 | |
| Labor | Alex Newman | 25,434 | 26.04 | −1.84 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal National | David Littleproud | 68,476 | 70.10 | −2.02 | |
| One Nation | Sharon Duncan | 29,211 | 29.90 | +29.90 | |
| Liberal National hold | |||||
Notes
- ^ Member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland sitting with the federal parliamentary National Party.
References
- ^ a b "Maranoa - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
- ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ "ParlInfo - Search Results".
- ^ "Maranoa, the No capital of Australia". news.com.au. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ Maranoa, Qld, 2025 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.