Electoral district of Warrego

Warrego is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland.

Warrego
QueenslandLegislative Assembly
Electoral map of Warrego 2017
StateQueensland
Created1865
MPAnn Leahy
PartyLiberal National
NamesakeWarrego River
Electors29,307 (2020)
Area337,812 km2 (130,429.9 sq mi)
DemographicRural
Coordinates26°52′S 146°9′E / 26.867°S 146.150°E / -26.867; 146.150
Electorates around Warrego:
South Australia Gregory Callide
Nanango
South Australia Warrego Condamine
Southern Downs
South Australia New South Wales New South Wales
2008 Electoral map of Warrego

The electorate lies in the extreme southwest of Queensland, running along the western part of the border with New South Wales. It includes the large town of Dalby, as well as the rural centres of Surat, Roma, Tara, Charleville, Augathella, St George and Cunnamulla.

History

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The electoral district of Warrego was created by the Additional Members Act of 1864 which introduced six new single-member electorates.[1] A by-election was held to fill the seat. The nomination date was 18 March 1865 and the election was held on 25 March 1865.[2]

Warrego was, as with the rest of the state, held by independents and loose groupings of members around the government of the day until the first years of the twentieth century, when the partisan system took hold. It then became a stronghold of the centre-left Labor Party, which held it without interruption from 1908 to 1974. The decline of the rural working class gradually changed the demographics of the electorate, however, and it fell to the conservative National Party in 1974, at the height of the popularity of the Bjelke-Petersen government. The National Party significantly increased its hold on the electorate thereafter, and it is today one of the party's safest seats. The current member, Ann Leahy, has held the seat since 2015.

Members for Warrego

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MemberPartyTerm
 Frederick ForbesUnaligned1865–1867
 Graham MylneUnaligned1867–1868
 Sir Arthur HodgsonUnaligned1868–1869
 Sir Thomas McIlwraithMinisterialist1870–1871
 Archibald BuchananMinisterialist1871–1873
 William Henry WalshMinisterialist1873–1878
 Ernest James StevensIndependent1878–1883
 John DonaldsonIndependent/Ministerialist1883–1888
 Richard CaseyUnaligned1888–1893
 James CrombieMinisterialist1893–1898
 William HoodMinisterialist1898–1899
 David BowmanLabour1899–1902
 Patrick LeahyMinisterialist/Opposition1902–1907
 George BarberLabour1907
 Patrick LeahyMinisterialist/Opposition1907–1908
 Harry CoyneLabor1908–1923
 Randolph BedfordLabor1923–1941
 Harry O'SheaLabor1941–1950
 John DufficyLabor1951–1969
 Jack AikenLabor1969–1974
 Neil TurnerNational1974–1986
 Howard HobbsNational1986–2008
 Liberal National2008–2015
 Ann LeahyLiberal National2015–present

Election results

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2020 Queensland state election: Warrego[3][4]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal NationalAnn Leahy14,10055.98+8.35
LaborMark O'Brien4,96619.72−1.97
Katter's AustralianRick Gurnett2,84211.28−9.96
One NationJoshua Coyne2,2248.83+8.83
GreensJoshua Sanderson5692.26−0.83
IndependentMark Stone4871.93−1.51
Total formal votes25,18897.97+2.17
Informal votes5212.03−2.17
Turnout25,70987.72−0.71
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal NationalAnn Leahy18,42473.15+8.80
LaborMark O'Brien6,76426.85−8.80
Liberal National holdSwing+8.80

References

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  1. ^ "Representatives of Queensland State Electorates 1860-2017" (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2012-2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ^ "NON-INFECTIOUSNESS OF PLEURO-PNEUMONIA". The Darling Downs Gazette and General Advertiser. Toowoomba, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 1 February 1865. p. 4. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
  3. ^ 2020 State General Election – Warrego – District Summary, ECQ.
  4. ^ https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/qld/2020/guide/warr
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