Division of Blair
| Blair Australian House of Representatives Division |
|
|---|---|
 Division of Blair (green) within Queensland |
|
| Created: | 1998 |
| MP: | Shayne Neumann |
| Party: | Labor |
| Namesake: | Harold Blair |
| Area: | 6,409 km² (2,475 sq mi) |
| Demographic: | Rural |
The Division of Blair is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1998 and is named after Harold Blair, an Aboriginal singer and civil rights campaigner. The Division is based in the rural areas west of Brisbane and includes parts of Ipswich and the Scenic Rim and Lockyer Valley regions.
The founder of the One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson, contested Blair in 1998, shifting from her previous seat, Oxley. To get rid of Hanson, Liberal and Labor preferenced each other, allowing Liberal challenger Cameron Thompson to win on the eighth count.
Thompson held the seat without serious difficulty in the next two elections, and it was widely reckoned as a safe Liberal seat. In the 2006 redistribution, the 2004 Liberal margin of 11.2% was reduced to 5.7%, as Esk, Nanango and Kingaroy were removed and more of Ipswich and Boonah were added. Blair had been rated as having received more funding promises from the Howard Government than any other electorate in the country.[1] In the 2007 election, Thompson was defeated by Labor challenger Shayne Neumann, with a 10.2 percent swing to Labor.
[edit] Members
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cameron Thompson | Liberal | 1998–2007 | |
| Shayne Neumann | Labor | 2007–present | |
[edit] Election results
| Australian federal election, 2010: Blair | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | Shayne Neumann | 30,890 | 42.08 | -9.23 | |
| Liberal National | Neil Zabel | 27,525 | 37.50 | -2.11 | |
| Greens | Patricia Petersen | 8,122 | 11.06 | +6.96 | |
| Family First | Joshua Olyslagers | 3,605 | 4.91 | +2.86 | |
| Independent | Brad King | 3,267 | 4.45 | +4.45 | |
| Total formal votes | 73,409 | 94.12 | -2.03 | ||
| Informal votes | 4,589 | 5.88 | +2.03 | ||
| Turnout | 77,998 | 93.89 | -1.10 | ||
| Two-candidate preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Shayne Neumann | 39,814 | 54.24 | -2.74 | |
| Liberal National | Neil Zabel | 33,595 | 45.76 | +2.74 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | -2.74 | |||
[edit] References
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Coordinates: 27°06′54″S 152°27′43″E / 27.115°S 152.462°E
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