Division of Forde

For the Canberra suburb, see Forde, Australian Capital Territory.

Forde Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Forde (green) within Queensland
Created:	1984
MP:	Bert Van Manen
Party:	Liberal National
Namesake:	Frank Forde
Area:	419 km² (162 sq mi)
Demographic:	Outer Metropolitan

The Division of Forde is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1984 and is named for Frank Forde, who was briefly Prime Minister of Australia in 1945. When it was created it was a marginal seat in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, but it now has no territory in common with the original seat and is located in semi-rural areas south of the city, including Beenleigh, Beaudesert, Boonah and Loganlea. It was a fairly safe seat for the Liberal Party after the 2004 election.

Kay Elson announced that she would not re-contest her seat in the 2007 Australian Federal election. Wendy Creighton, a Boonah resident and editor of the local newspaper, the Fassifern Guardian, contested Forde as the Liberal candidate instead. She was defeated at the Federal election by Brett Raguse, the opposing Labor Party candidate, making Forde the safest Liberal Party seat to be claimed by the Labor Party at the 2007 election.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	David Watson	Liberal	1984–1987
	Mary Crawford	Labor	1987–1996
	Kay Elson	Liberal	1996–2007
	Brett Raguse	Labor	2007–2010
	Bert Van Manen	Liberal National	2010–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Forde

Australian federal election, 2010: Forde
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Bert Van Manen	30,967	44.08	+0.01
	Labor	Brett Raguse	26,268	37.39	-8.92
	Greens	Petrina Maizey	8,583	12.22	+7.78
	Family First	Melissa Raassina	4,440	6.32	+3.56
Total formal votes			70,258	92.87	-2.42
Informal votes			5,397	7.13	+2.42
Turnout			75,655	91.64	-1.05
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal National	Bert Van Manen	36,271	51.63	+4.99
	Labor	Brett Raguse	33,987	48.37	-4.99
	Liberal National gain from Labor		Swing	+4.99

External links

• Division of Forde (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission