Electoral district of Mackay

Mackay Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Electoral map of Mackay 2017
State	Queensland
MP	Julieanne Gilbert
Party	Labor
Namesake	Mackay
Electors	36,422 (2017)
Area	205 km2 (79.2 sq mi)
Coordinates	21°7′S 149°13′E
Electorates around Mackay: Whitsunday Whitsunday Coral Sea Whitsunday Mackay Coral Sea Mirani Mirani Coral Sea

Electoral map of Mackay 2008

Mackay is a Legislative Assembly of Queensland electoral district in North Queensland, Australia, encompassing the inner suburbs of the city of Mackay. Outer suburbs of the city are included in the neighbouring electorates of Mirani and Whitsunday.

Mackay has been held by the Labor Party for all but five years since 1915, when it was won by William Forgan Smith, who served as Premier of Queensland from 1932 to 1942. He retired undefeated in 1942 and was replaced by long-serving backbencher Fred Graham. Graham retired in 1969, and was succeeded by Ed Casey. Casey went to lose Labor preselection in 1972, but recontested and won as an independent, and did so again in 1975 before being readmitted to the party in 1977. He subsequently served as Labor leader from 1978 to 1982, and later as a minister in the Goss Labor government. He was succeeded upon his retirement by Tim Mulherin, who was comfortably elected six more times, winning with more than 60% of the vote in 2006.

For the better part of a century, Mackay was a safe Labor seat, remaining in Labor hands even at the height of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's popularity. Aside from Casey's stint as an independent, the only time Labor's grip on the seat was seriously threatened before 2012 was in 1986, when Casey was reduced to 53 percent of the two-party vote. At the 2012 election it became the most marginal ALP seat with Mulherin winning 50.5% of the two-party preferred vote. Mulherin was elected deputy leader of what remained of Labor; it was reduced to only seven seats.

Mulherin retired in 2015, and the seat reverted to its traditional status as a safe Labor seat, with Julieanne Gilbert retaining the seat for Labor on a swing of 12 percent.

Members for Mackay

First incarnation (1878–1888, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	Francis Amhurst	Unaligned	1878–1881
	Maurice Hume Black	Unaligned	1881–1888
Second incarnation (1888–1912, 2 members)
Member		Party	Term
	Maurice Hume Black	Unaligned	1888–1893
	David Dalrymple	Ministerialist	1888–1904
	James Chataway	Ministerialist	1893–1901
	Walter Paget	Ministerialist/Opposition	1901–1912
	Albert Fudge	Labor	1904–1907
	Edward Swayne	Opposition	1907–1912
Third incarnation (1912–present, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	Walter Paget	Ministerialist/Opposition	1912–1915
	William Forgan Smith	Labor	1915–1942
	Fred Graham	Labor	1943–1969
	Ed Casey	Labor	1969–1972
		Independent	1972–1977
		Labor	1977–1995
	Tim Mulherin	Labor	1995–2015
	Julieanne Gilbert	Labor	2015–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Mackay

2017 Queensland state election: Mackay

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Julieanne Gilbert	13,281	42.9	−0.2
	Liberal National	Nicole Batzloff	7,657	24.7	−4.0
	One Nation	Jeff Keioskie	7,009	22.6	+22.6
	Greens	Elliot Jennings	1,542	5.0	+0.2
	Independent	Martin McCann	1,459	4.7	+4.7
Total formal votes			30,948	95.5	−2.1
Informal votes			1,445	4.5	+2.1
Turnout			32,393	86.9	−2.6
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Julieanne Gilbert	18,054	58.3	−1.9
	Liberal National	Nicole Batzloff	12,894	41.7	+1.9
	Labor hold		Swing	−1.9

External links

• Green, Antony. "Electorate Profile". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.