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2009 Queensland state election

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2009 Queensland state election

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FieldValue
election_name2009 Queensland state election
countryQueensland
typeparliamentary
ongoingno
previous_election2006 Queensland state election
previous_year2006
next_election2012 Queensland state election
next_year2012
seats_for_electionAll 89 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
45 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
turnout90.93 ( 0.46 pp)
election_date
image1[[Image:Anna Bligh crop.jpg150x150px]]
leader1Anna Bligh
leader_since1
party1Australian Labor Party (Queensland Branch)
leaders_seat1South Brisbane
last_election159 seats, 46.92%
seats1**51 seats**
seat_change18
popular_vote1**1,002,415**
percentage1**42.25%**
swing14.67
image2150x150px
leader2Lawrence Springborg
leader_since2
party2Liberal National Party of Queensland
leaders_seat2Southern Downs
last_election225 seats, 37.92%
seats234 seats
seat_change29
popular_vote2987,018
percentage241.60%
swing23.68
image3
leader3Rosa Lee Long
party3One Nation
leader_since3
leaders_seat3Tablelands
*(lost seat)*
popular_vote39,038
percentage30.38%
swing30.22
last_election31 seat, 0.60%
seats30
seat_change31
1blankTPP
1data1**50.9%**
1data249.1%
2blankTPP swing
2data14.1
2data24.1
map_image2009 Queensland state election.svg
map_size400px
map_captionWinning margin by electorate.
titlePremier
before_electionAnna Bligh
before_partyAustralian Labor Party (Queensland Branch)
after_electionAnna Bligh
after_partyAustralian Labor Party (Queensland Branch)

45 Assembly seats were needed for a majority

(lost seat)

The 2009 Queensland state election was held on 21 March 2009 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament.

The election saw the incumbent Labor government led by Premier Anna Bligh defeat the Liberal National Party of Queensland led by Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg, and gain a fifth consecutive term in office for her party. Bligh thus became the first female Premier of any Australian State elected in her own right.

This was the first election contested by the LNP following its creation with the merger of the National and Liberal parties.

The 2009 election marked the eighth consecutive victory of Labor in a general election since 1989, although it was out of office between 1996 and 1998 as a direct result of the 1996 Mundingburra by-election.

Background

The Labor Party, led by Premier Anna Bligh, and the LNP, led by Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg, were the two main parties in Queensland at the election. It was the first election contested by the LNP following its creation with the merger of the National and Liberal parties. At the previous election, Labor won 59 seats, the Nationals won 17 seats, the Liberals won eight seats, One Nation won one seat, and independents won four seats. Former Labor MP Ronan Lee joined the Greens in 2008, thus becoming their parliamentary leader. Lee lost his seat at the election.

A redistribution saw Labor notionally pick up three seats. Therefore, the LNP notionally needed to pick up 22 seats rather than 20 seats to form a majority government, which equated to an unchanged uniform 8.3 percent two party preferred swing.

Former Premier Peter Beattie resigned in September 2007, which triggered the October 2007 Brisbane Central by-election.

Key dates

DateEvent
23 February 2009Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.
28 February 2009Close of electoral rolls
3 March 2009Close of nominations
21 March 2009Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm
26 March 2009The Bligh Ministry was reconstituted
7 April 2009The writ was returned and the results formally declared
12 April 200953rd Parliament convened

Electoral redistribution

A redistribution of electoral boundaries occurred in 2008.

The electorates of Charters Towers, Cunningham, Darling Downs, Fitzroy, Kurwongbah, Mount Gravatt, Robina, and Tablelands were abolished.

The electorates of Buderim, Condamine, Coomera, Dalrymple, Mermaid Beach, Morayfield, Pine Rivers, and Sunnybank were created.

The redistribution merged Charters Towers with Tablelands to create the notionally National-held Dalrymple, Fitzroy into Mirani, and Cunningham with Darling Downs to create the notionally National-held Condamine, all in regional Queensland. Notionally Liberal-held Buderim was created on the Sunshine Coast, notionally Labor-held Morayfield in the corridor north of Brisbane, and notionally Labor-held Coomera was created on the Gold Coast. Kurwongbah was renamed Pine Rivers, Mount Gravatt was renamed Sunnybank, and Robina was renamed Mermaid Beach. Burdekin, Clayfield, and Mirani became notionally Labor-held, while Glass House became notionally National-held.

The changes resulted in 62 notionally Labor-held seats, 8 notionally Liberal-held seats, 15 notionally National-held seats, and 4 notionally Independent-held seats. All Liberal-held and National-held seats became Liberal National-held seats.

Retiring members

Labor

  • Chris Bombolas MP (Chatsworth) – Announced 19 February 2009
  • Gary Fenlon MP (Greenslopes) – Announced 15 February 2009
  • Ken Hayward MP (Kallangur)
  • Linda Lavarch MP (Kurwongbah)
  • Jim Pearce MP (Fitzroy)
  • Warren Pitt MP (Mulgrave) – Announced 17 February 2009
  • Pat Purcell MP (Bulimba)
  • Mike Reynolds MP (Townsville) – Announced 15 February 2009
  • Rod Welford MP (Everton)

Liberal National

  • Kev Lingard MP (Beaudesert)

Results

Main article: Results of the 2009 Queensland state election

Winning party by electorate.

Seats changing hands

RedlandsLaborJohn English6.7**-6.77**0.07Peter DowlingLiberal National
  • Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
  • ¹ Ronan Lee was elected as a member of the Labor Party, but resigned and joined the Greens.
  • The Liberal National Party retained the seat of Glass House which had a notional Liberal National margin.

Post-election pendulum

Subsequent changes

  • On 5 May 2010, Aidan McLindon (Beaudesert) and Rob Messenger (Burnett) resigned from the Liberal National Party. On 11 October 2011, Aidan McLindon joined Katter's Australian Party.
  • On 31 October 2011, Shane Knuth (Dalrymple) resigned from the Liberal National Party and joined the Katter's Australian Party.

Polling

Newspoll polling was conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes usually consist of around 1000 electors, with the declared margin of error at around ±3 percent.

DateLabor
*Bligh*Coalition/LNP
*Springborg*18 – 19 Mar 200927 Feb – 8 Mar 2009Jan – Feb 2009Oct – Dec 2008Jul – Sep 2008Apr – Jun 2008Jan – Mar 2008Oct – Dec 2007Jul – Sep 2007Apr – Jun 2007Pre 2006 election**Pre 2004 election**
53%33%
48%34%
48%31%
49%30%
53%27%
60%24%
64%18%
66%11%2
54%125%2
54%119%2
58%128%
62%122%
[Polling](https://web.archive.org/web/20090912050126/http://www.newspoll.com.au/cgi-bin/polling//display_poll_data.pl?url_caller=trend&mode=trend&page=show_polls&question_set_id=13) conducted by Newspoll and published in *The Australian*.
^ Remainder were "uncommitted" to either leader.
1 Peter Beattie, 2 Jeff Seeney
Political partiesTwo party preferredDatesALPLibNatLNPGrnFFPOthALPLNP18 – 19 Mar 200927 Feb – 8 Mar 2009Jan – Feb 2009Oct – Dec 2008Jul – Sep 2008Apr – Jun 2008Jan – Mar 2008Oct – Dec 2007Jul – Sep 2007Apr – Jun 2007**[2006 election](2006-queensland-state-election)**6 – 7 Sep 2006**[2004 election](2004-queensland-state-election)**
42%42%7%0.5%8%49.9%50.1%
41%43%8%8%49%51%
42%41%7%10%53%47%
45%37%8%10%57%43%
38%41%9%1%11%51%49%
43%26%12%38%10%9%55%45%
50%22%10%32%8%10%60%40%
50%26%9%35%6%1%8%59%41%
50%21%12%33%5%2%10%59%41%
51%20%11%31%6%1%11%61%39%
46.9%20.1%17.8%37.9%8.0%1.9%5.3%55.0%45.0%
48%21%17%38%4%1%9%55%45%
47%18.5%17%35.5%6.7%4.9%5.9%55.5%44.5%
[Polling](https://web.archive.org/web/20090912050126/http://www.newspoll.com.au/cgi-bin/polling//display_poll_data.pl?url_caller=trend&mode=trend&page=show_polls&question_set_id=13) conducted by Newspoll and published in *The Australian*.

Notes

References

References

  1. (21 March 2009). "Queensland elects female premier". [[BBC News Online]].
  2. (2008-10-05). "Qld Labor MP jumps ship to Greens". ABC News.
  3. (2009-03-21). "2008 QLD redistribution". ABC.
  4. "Election Timetable: 2009 State General Election". Electoral Commission of Queensland.
  5. Queensland, [http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/state/state2009/timetable.html ''Gazette: Extraordinary''] {{webarchive. link. (March 17, 2012 , No 71, 26 March 2009, 1307)
  6. ECQ. "Parliament of Queensland, Assembly election, 21 March 2009".
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