2012 Queensland State Election
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The 2012 Queensland state election was held on 24 March 2012 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament. The Labor Party (ALP), led by
Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...
Anna Bligh, was defeated by the opposition Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Campbell Newman in a
landslide victory A landslide victory is an election result in which the winning Candidate#Candidates in elections, candidate or political party, party achieves a decisive victory by an overwhelming margin, securing a very large majority of votes or seats far beyo ...
. It is only the sixth time that Queenslanders have ousted a sitting government since 1915. The ALP was attempting to win a ninth consecutive election victory, having won every general election since 1989, despite being out of office between 1996 and 1998. Katter's Australian Party contested its first election. Before the election, it held two seats whose members had been elected as LNP candidates. Labor suffered one of the worst defeats of a state government since Federation, and the worst defeat of a sitting government in Queensland history. From 51 seats in
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, it was reduced to only seven seats, suffering a swing of 15.6 percentage points. The LNP won a majority for the first time in its history, jumping from 34 to 78 seats to win the largest majority government in Queensland history. It was the first outright non-Labor majority since the Queensland Nationals won their last victory in 1986. Katter's Australian Party won two seats, though leader Aidan McLindon lost his own seat. The remaining two seats were taken by independents. Newman took office two days after the election. Historically, Queenslanders have given their governments long tenures in office. The 2012 election marked only the sixth change of government in the state since 1915.


Background

In choosing 24 March, Bligh made the unusual step of announcing the election date two months prior. Bligh was criticised for selecting a date which required the postponement of local government elections. Bligh has said that date allowed Queenslanders to view the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the 2010–11 Queensland floods before they vote. Normal practice in Australia is for parliament to be dissolved at the time of the election announcement. However, Bligh did not formally ask
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Penelope Wensley to dissolve Parliament until 19 February. Wensley granted the request, formally beginning the 35-day campaign. By not asking for a dissolution in January, Bligh avoided placing the government in caretaker mode for 25 days.


Leadership of the Liberal National Party

Campbell Newman was elected leader of the LNP in early 2011 while he was the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. Standard practice calls for an MP from a safe seat to resign so that a newly elected leader can get into parliament via a
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
, though this is not universally followed. However, when Newman won the leadership in 2011, a by-election could not be arranged. Green, Antony
Queensland election preview
.
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, 25 January 2012.
For this reason, Jeff Seeney was elected as interim parliamentary leader of the LNP and
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
. Newman led the LNP election team from outside of parliament, often sitting at the galleries, and simultaneously contested the seat of Ashgrove as the LNP candidate.


Disendorsed candidates

The Liberal National Party disendorsed two candidates for the Gold Coast seat of Broadwater. Richard Townson was caught drink driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.07 when he was in a police random breath test. Cameron Caldwell was disendorsed when he confirmed he had attended a Gold Coast swingers' club. The Australian Labor Party disendorsed candidate Peter Watson for the seat of Southern Downs and expelled him from the party for making racist and homophobic remarks online.


Katter appeal on ballot papers

On 2 March 2012, Katter's Australian Party sought an injunction in the
Supreme Court of Queensland The Supreme Court of Queensland is the highest court in the Australian State of Queensland. It was formerly the Brisbane Supreme Court, in the colony of Queensland. The original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court allows its trial division to ...
to have more than 2 million ballot papers shredded and reprinted. The party said the Queensland Electoral Commission used the party's abbreviated name, "The Australian Party", instead of its registered name, "Katter's Australian Party (Qld Division)", which the party claimed could confuse voters. Bligh said that her lawyers had advised her to reschedule the election if Katter's challenge succeeded. On 7 March, Supreme Court Justice Roslyn Atkinson referred the matter to the Queensland Court of Appeal as matters of constitutional law in the case were outside her jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal rejected the constitutional arguments and dismissed the appeal the following day.


Key dates


Retiring members


Labor

* Julie Attwood ( Mount Ommaney) — Announced 16 January 2012 * Desley Boyle (
Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
) — Announced 17 February 2011 * Paul Lucas ( Lytton) — Announced 15 September 2011 * Carolyn Male ( Pine Rivers) — Announced 3 February 2012 * John Mickel ( Logan) — Announced 10 August 2011 * Lindy Nelson-Carr ( Mundingburra) — Announced 28 March 2011 * Neil Roberts ( Nudgee) — Announced 12 December 2011 * Stephen Robertson ( Stretton) — Announced 27 March 2011 * Robert Schwarten (
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
) — Announced 17 February 2011 * Judy Spence ( Sunnybank) — Announced 15 December 2010


Liberal National

* Mike Horan ( Toowoomba South) — Announced 26 March 2011


Independent

* Dorothy Pratt ( Nanango) — Announced 15 April 2011


Results

The estimated two-party preferred result was 37.2% for Labor and 62.8% for the LNP, a swing of 13.7% from Labor's result of 2009. The LNP had been unbackable favourites to win the election. By the time the writs were issued, they had led opinion polling for over a year, and had been ahead of Labor on all but one Newspoll since 2010. The LNP swept Labor from power in a massive landslide, taking 78 seats to Labor's seven on a two-party-preferred swing of 13.7 points away from Labor. The 44-seat loss is double the 22-seat loss suffered by the Nationals in the 1989 election, the previous record for the worst defeat of a sitting government in Queensland history. The 13.7-percent swing is one of the largest against a sitting state government in Australia since World War II. In the process, the LNP won many seats considered Labor heartland. It broke Labor's longstanding grip on Brisbane, taking all but three of the city's 40 seats, some on swings of 10 points or more. By comparison, Labor went into the election holding all but six seats in the capital, which had been its power base for over 20 years. In every election since the " one vote, one value" reforms of the Goss government, Labor had won at least 30 seats in Brisbane. The LNP also won every seat on the Gold Coast while strengthening its hold on its traditional heartlands in provincial and rural Queensland. Ten members of Bligh's cabinet were defeated. Newman won Ashgrove handily, defeating Labor's Kate Jones on a 13-point swing, almost double the 7-point swing he needed to take the seat off Labor.
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called the election for the LNP at 6:48 pm Queensland time, less than an hour after counting began. Bligh conceded defeat at 8:25 pm, and Newman publicly claimed victory 20 minutes later. The day after the election, Bligh resigned as premier and Queensland Labor leader. She also announced she was resigning from parliament on 30 March and retiring from politics, triggering a by-election in her seat of South Brisbane. An hour later, Newman, who at the time did not know that Bligh had resigned, announced that he would be sworn in as premier on 26 March, heading an interim three-man cabinet composed of himself, Seeney and Tim Nicholls. Although Newman's victory was beyond doubt, counting was still under way in some seats. Bligh handed in her resignation later on the afternoon of 25 March, but remained as caretaker until Newman was sworn in the next day. Labor was reduced to its smallest presence in the legislature on record, outdoing its previous low in 1974, when it was cut down to a "cricket team" of only 11 members at the height of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's power. Indeed, Michael Madigan of ''
The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...
'' wrote that Labor had been reduced to a "water polo squad." Although Labor came up two seats short of official party status in the legislature, Newman promised that Labor would be "properly resourced as an opposition".


Seats changing hands

* Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election. * 1 Shane Knuth was elected as a member of the Liberal National Party, but resigned and joined Katter's Australian Party in 2011. * The Liberal National Party also retained the seats of Beaudesert, where the sitting Liberal National member had resigned and contested the election as a member of Katter's Australian Party. The Liberal National Party also retained the seat of Burnett, where the sitting Liberal National member had resigned and contested the election as an Independent.


Post-election pendulum


Subsequent changes

* On 30 March 2012, former Premier Anna Bligh ( South Brisbane) resigned. At the by-election on 28 April 2012, Jackie Trad retained the electorate for the Labor Party. * On 28 November 2012, Ray Hopper ( Condamine) resigned from the Liberal National Party and joined Katter's Australian Party. * On 30 November 2012, Carl Judge ( Yeerongpilly) resigned from the Liberal National Party and sat as an Independent. He then joined the Palmer United Party on 7 June 2013, but resigned on 8 October 2014 and again sat as an Independent. * On 1 December 2012, Alex Douglas ( Gaven) resigned from the Liberal National Party and sat as an Independent. He then joined the Palmer United Party on 7 Jun 2013, but resigned on 18 August 2014 and again sat as an Independent. * On 19 April 2013, Scott Driscoll ( Redcliffe) resigned from the Liberal National Party and sat as an Independent. On 19 November 2013 he resigned. At the
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
on 22 February 2014, Yvette D'Ath gained the seat for the Labor Party. * On 23 May 2014, Chris Davis (
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) resigned. At the
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
on 19 July 2014, Anthony Lynham gained the seat for the Labor Party.


Retiring MPs

The following Members of Parliament stood down at the election:


Labor

* Julie Attwood ( Mount Ommaney) – announced 16 January 2012 * Desley Boyle (
Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...
) – announced 17 February 2011 * Paul Lucas ( Lytton) – announced 15 September 2011 * Carolyn Male ( Pine Rivers) – announced 3 February 2012 * John Mickel ( Logan) – announced 10 August 2011 * Lindy Nelson-Carr ( Mundingburra) – announced 28 March 2011 * Neil Roberts ( Nudgee) – announced 12 December 2011 * Stephen Robertson ( Stretton) – announced 27 March 2011 * Robert Schwarten (
Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...
) – announced 17 February 2011 * Judy Spence ( Sunnybank) – announced 15 December 2010


LNP

* Mike Horan ( Toowoomba South) – announced 26 March 2011


Independent

* Dorothy Pratt ( Nanango) – announced 15 April 2011


Polling

Newspoll and Galaxy polling was conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes usually consist of around 800-1000 electors, with the declared
margin of error The margin of error is a statistic expressing the amount of random sampling error in the results of a Statistical survey, survey. The larger the margin of error, the less confidence one should have that a poll result would reflect the result of ...
at around ±3 percent.


Graphical summary


Better Premier and leadership approval graphical summary


Newspaper endorsements


See also

* Candidates of the 2012 Queensland state election * Politics of Queensland


References


External links


Electoral Commission Queensland

2012 Queensland election – Antony Green ABC

A map of state electoral divisions in Queensland, courtesy of Courier Mail



Queensland State and Local Election Photographs 2012
State Library of Queensland State Library of Queensland (State Library) is the state public reference and research library of Queensland, Australia, operated by the Government of Queensland, state government. The Library is governed by the Library Board of Queensland, whi ...
{{Queensland elections Elections in Queensland 2012 elections in Australia 2010s in Queensland March 2012 in Australia Liberal National Party of Queensland