Electoral district of Surfers Paradise
| Surfers Paradise Queensland—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Electoral map of Surfers Paradise 2017 | |||||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| MP | John-Paul Langbroek | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Liberal National | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Surfers Paradise | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 35,065 (2020) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 24 km2 (9.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Inner-metropolitan | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 27°59′S 153°24′E / 27.983°S 153.400°E | ||||||||||||||
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Surfers Paradise is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. Located in the central portion of the Gold Coast, it is named for Surfers Paradise, the largest suburb of the Gold Coast.[1]
While the Gold Coast has historically tilted conservative, Surfers Paradise has historically been a particularly conservative seat even by Gold Coast standards. It is one of the few areas of the Gold Coast where Labor has never been competitive at the state level. It was originally a National seat for all but one term from its creation in 1972 to 2001, with its best-known member being Rob Borbidge, the last National Premier of Queensland.[citation needed]
This tradition was broken after Borbidge resigned in the wake of the Coalition's massive defeat in the 2001 state election. Due to voter anger at having to go back to the polls for the second time in three months, the Nationals' primary vote plummeted to eight percent, allowing the former mayor of the Gold Coast, Lex Bell, to win as an independent. The seat reverted to form at the 2004 state election, in which Bell was defeated by Liberal John-Paul Langbroek on a large swing.[citation needed]
Since then, the seat has been one of the safest seats in Queensland for the Liberals and the merged Liberal National Party of Queensland, and has often been the safest LNP seat in the state. It is presently the LNP's fifth-safest seat, with Labor needing a 16.6 percent swing to win it. As a measure of how conservative this seat is, Langbroek suffered a swing of 10 percent against him in 2015, but still retained it with a comfortable majority of 19.2 percent. Langbroek served as opposition leader from 3 April 2009 - 22 March 2011[2] — the first member from the Liberal side of the merger to hold the post.[citation needed]
The seat is almost entirely within the equally conservative federal seat of Moncrieff.[citation needed]
Members for Surfers Paradise[edit]
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Sir) Bruce Small | Country | 1972–1974 | |
| National | 1974–1977 | ||
| Bruce Bishop | Liberal | 1977–1980 | |
| Rob Borbidge | National | 1980–2001 | |
| Lex Bell | Independent | 2001–2004 | |
| John-Paul Langbroek | Liberal | 2004–2008 | |
| Liberal National | 2008–present | ||
Election results[edit]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal National | John-Paul Langbroek | 16,470 | 57.73 | −5.50 | |
| Labor | Brianna Bailey | 7,265 | 25.47 | +3.06 | |
| Greens | Nelson Quinn | 2,324 | 8.15 | −0.96 | |
| One Nation | Leeanne Schultz | 1,785 | 6.26 | +6.26 | |
| United Australia | Roger McKay | 684 | 2.40 | +2.40 | |
| Total formal votes | 28,528 | 96.51 | +2.06 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,031 | 3.49 | −2.06 | ||
| Turnout | 29,559 | 84.30 | +3.34 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal National | John-Paul Langbroek | 18,890 | 66.22 | −3.57 | |
| Labor | Brianna Bailey | 9,638 | 33.78 | +3.57 | |
| Liberal National hold | Swing | −3.57 | |||
References[edit]
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Mr John-Paul Langbroek". Members. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
- ^ 2020 State General Election – Surfers Paradise – District Summary, ECQ.