Electoral district of Albert
| Albert Queensland—Legislative Assembly |
|
|---|---|
 Brisbane Central (2008—) |
|
| State or territory: | Queensland |
| Dates current: | 1888–1950, 1960–present |
| MP: | Margaret Keech |
| Party: | Labor |
| Namesake: | Albert River |
Albert is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Queensland. Albert is named for the Albert River, which runs through the electorate and separates Logan City from Gold Coast City. It was first created in a redistribution in 1887 ahead of the 1888 state election, and apart from a ten-year break in the 1950s, has existed ever since.
Its consistently changing boundaries together with its existence in a high-growth area do not provide consistent political leanings over time, although it has shown more inclination towards the Labor Party over time than any other Gold Coast seat.
The present Member, Margaret Keech, was first elected in the 2001 election. She is the Government Whip in the government of Anna Bligh.
Contents |
[edit] History
Historically, the Gold Coast and Logan regions were sparsely populated agricultural areas,[1] and the Albert electorate covered the entire south-eastern corner of the state. Its representation broadly reflected the conservative leanings and rural interests of its population, and John Appel, who served in both the Second Kidston Ministry and Denham Ministry, participated in the formation of both the Queensland Farmers' Union from the rural caucus of the Ministerialist party in 1915 and the subsequent Country Party in 1919.
The seat's boundaries evolved thus:[2]
- Prior to 1920, the seat covered the entire modern Gold Coast City plus Beaudesert and Jimboomba.
- At the 1920 election, it lost Beaudesert and Jimboomba to the neighbouring seat of Fassifern, and moved north to cover all of what is now Logan City.
- At the 1932 election, it lost the Logan area, and regained Jimboomba.
- At the 1935 election, it lost Jimboomba, and gained all of what is now Redland City, including North Stradbroke Island, from the seat of Wynnum.
It was split up in the 1949 redistribution ahead of the 1950 state election into Darlington, which included Redland, Logan, Beaudesert, Coomera, Jimboomba and Tamborine; and Southport which was limited to the Gold Coast and its hinterland.[2] Both seats remained safe for the Country Party; Plunkett opted to contest the seat of Darlington.
At the 1960 state election, the fast-growing Southport seat was split into Albert in the north and South Coast in the south.[2] Further urban growth pushed the seat progressively northwards.
Its present boundaries, as at the 2009 election, take in mostly urban, semi-urban and industrial areas west of the Pacific Motorway extending from Mount Warren Park and Windaroo in southern Logan to Coomera and Oxenford in the outer northern Gold Coast.
[edit] Members for Albert
| First incarnation (1888-1950) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Thomas Plunkett Sr. | Conservative | 1888–1890 | |
| Ministerialist | 1890–1896 | ||
| Robert Collins | Independent | 1896–1899 | |
| Thomas Plunkett Sr. | Opposition | 1899–1903 | |
| Liberal | 1903–1907 | ||
| Kidston | 1907–1908 | ||
| John Appel | Conservative | 1908–1909 | |
| Ministerial/Qld. Liberal | 1909–1915 | ||
| Farmers' Union | 1915–1917 | ||
| Nationalist | 1917–1919 | ||
| Country | 1919–1922 | ||
| United | 1922–1925 | ||
| CPNP | 1925–1929 | ||
| Thomas Plunkett Jr. | CPNP | 1929–1936 | |
| Country | 1936–1950 | ||
| Second incarnation (1960-present) | |||
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Cec Carey | Country | 1960–1969 | |
| Bill Heatley | Liberal | 1970–1971 | |
| Bill D'Arcy | Labor | 1972–1974 | |
| Ivan Gibbs | National | 1974–1989 | |
| John Szczerbanik | Labor | 1989–1995 | |
| Bill Baumann | National | 1995–2001 | |
| Margaret Keech | Labor | 2001–present | |
[edit] Election results
| Queensland state election, 2009: Albert[3] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | Margaret Keech | 12,649 | 49.98 | -7.2 | |
| Liberal National | Andrea Johanson | 9,841 | 38.89 | +7.4 | |
| Greens | Marlee Bruinsma | 1,792 | 7.08 | -0.2 | |
| Independent | Geoff Flannery | 1,024 | 4.05 | +4.0 | |
| Total formal votes | 25,306 | 97.50 | +0.4 | ||
| Informal votes | 648 | 2.50 | –0.4 | ||
| Turnout | 25,954 | 90.30 | |||
| Two-candidate preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Margaret Keech | 13,409 | 56.47 | -7.3 | |
| Liberal National | Andrea Johanson | 10,335 | 43.53 | +7.3 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | -7.3 | |||
[edit] References
- ^ In 1933, the census counted the following populations in local government areas: Coolangatta, 1,828; Southport, 4,218; Beaudesert, 4,915; Beenleigh, 2,322; Cleveland, 2,398; Coomera, 1,152; Nerang, 3,730; Tamborine, 2,673; Tingalpa, 1,812; Waterford, 1,052. In the ensuing 15 years, the region described above only gained another 10,000 people. Source: Queensland Year Book, 1949, p.42.
- ^ a b c Queensland Government Gazettes: 1909, p.553; 1915, p.1104; 1929, p.1005; 1932, p.1517; 1947, p.927; 1950; p.1182 and 1187; 1960, p.1911 and 1919. Maps in Waterson, D.B. Biographical register of the Queensland Parliament, 1930-1980 Canberra: ANU Press (1982).
- ^ Green, Antony. "2009 Queensland Election: Analysis of Results". ABC Election Unit. http://www.abc.net.au/elections/archive/qld/QLD2009_Results.pdf#page=14. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
[edit] External links
- Electorate Profile (Antony Green, ABC)
