Electoral district of Townsville

Townsville
Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Eelectoral map of Townsville 2017
State Queensland
Dates current 1878–present
MP Scott Stewart
Party Labor Party
Namesake Townsville
Electors 34,065 (2017)
Area 10,738 km2 (4,146.0 sq mi)
Coordinates 18°55′S 146°41′E / 18.917°S 146.683°E / -18.917; 146.683Coordinates: 18°55′S 146°41′E / 18.917°S 146.683°E / -18.917; 146.683
Electorates around Townsville:
Hinchinbrook Coral Sea Coral Sea
Hinchinbrook Townsville Coral Sea
Thuringowa Mundingburra Mundingburra
Electoral map of Townsville 2008

Townsville is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. The seat is one of four within the Townsville urban area in North Queensland, and covers the Eastern and Northern suburbs of the City of Townsville as well as Magnetic Island and Palm Island.[1]

Significant features in Townsville within the electorate are; The Strand, the Port of Townsville, Townsville Airport, RAAF Garbutt, Castle Hill, Museum of Tropical Queensland, Reef HQ, various administrative centres for Local, State and federal Governments. Suburbs of Townsville within the Electorate include; Townsville, North Ward, Castle Hill, Belgian Gardens, West End, Hyde Park, Garbutt, Mount Louisa, Currajong, Railway Estate, South Townsville, Rowes Bay, Bohle and Pallarenda.[2] Two populated islands fall within the electorate; Magnetic Island and Palm Island, each have about 2500 residents,[3][4] 93% of Palm Island's inhabitants are Indigenous.[5]

This State electorate falls completely within the eastern portion of the Federal Division of Herbert. It encompasses the local government areas of Palm Island and parts of Townsville.

Townsville Electorate is bordered by the Hinchinbrook (North), Burdekin (South), Mundingburra (South and West) and Thuringowa (West) Electorates.[6]

History

The Electoral district of Townsville was created in 1878, then the Additional Members Act of 1885 (which took effect late 1885 / early 1886) was divided in two, one retaining the name of Townsville, the other becoming Musgrave which existed until 1923. From late 1885 it was determined that the Townsville Electorate would elect two representatives to the Legislative Assembly.[7]

Premier Robert Philp (Premier 1899-1903 and 1907–08) was elected as one of the two Townsville members when his previous Electorate of Musgrave absorbed. His parliamentary activity was mainly in support of North Queensland and his own business interests - extending railway links to North Queensland, and the abolition of import tariffs. When the import of Pacific Islanders was temporarily halted in 1892 Philp was instrumental in securing its resumption.

In 1912 the Electoral district of Mundingburra was created to accommodate for the return to universal single member electorates. 1923 saw the further reduction in size of the Electorate with the northern part of the city ceded to Kennedy and the southern part to Mundingburra, and in 1959 it was abolished and divided into the two electorates of South Townsville and North Townsville. The 1971 redistribution recreated the Electorate with new neighbours, Townsville West and Townsville South, Townsville included most of the Northern part of the City and some rural areas which were formerly in Hinchinbrook. The Electorate was reduced in size again in 1986 redistribution with a new neighbour of Townsville East. When Townsville East was abolished in 1991 Townsville Electorate gained land but lost land in the South-West corner to the newly re-created seat of Mundingburra.[7]

In 1998 Mike Reyolds was elected as the new Member for the Townsville Electorate taking over from retiring Labor Member Ken Geoff Smith and was immediately appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier in North Queensland. After increasing the Townsville margin in 2001 Reynolds was promoted to Cabinet as Minister for Emergency Services and Minister Assisting the Premier in North Queensland. In 2004, Reynolds was moved to the new Child Safety Ministry with Ministerial responsibilities for adoptions, child protection services, foster/kinship carers etc.

After the 2006 election, Reynolds was elected as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland by the 52nd Parliament on 10 October 2006.

Members for Townsville

First incarnation (1878–1885, 1 member)
MemberPartyTerm
  John Deane Unaligned 1878–1879
  John Murtagh Macrossan Unaligned 1879–1885
Second incarnation (1885–1912, 2 members)
MemberPartyTerm
  John Murtagh Macrossan Unaligned 1885–1891
  William Villiers Brown Unaligned 1885–1888
  Robert Philp Opposition/Ministerialist 1888–1912
  William Villiers Brown Unaligned 1891–1893
  George Burns Ministerialist 1893
  Anthony Ogden Labour 1894–1896
  William Castling Ministerialist 1896–1899
  Patrick Hanran Ministerialist 1899–1909
  Thomas Foley Labour 1909–1912
Third incarnation (1912–1960, 1 member)
MemberPartyTerm
  Robert Philp Opposition/Ministerialist 1912–1915
  Daniel Ryan Labor 1915–1920
  William Green Northern Country 1920–1923
  Maurice Hynes Labor 1923–1939
  George Keyatta Labor 1939–1960
Fourth incarnation (1972–present, 1 member)
MemberPartyTerm
  Norman Scott-Young Liberal 1972–1983
  Ken McElligott Labor 1983–1986
  Tony Burreket National 1986–1989
  Ken Davies Labor 1989–1992
  Geoff Smith Labor 1992–1998
  Mike Reynolds Labor 1998–2009
  Mandy Johnstone Labor 2009–2012
  John Hathaway Liberal National 2012–2015
  Scott Stewart Labor 2015–present

Election results

Queensland state election, 2017: Townsville[8]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labor Scott Stewart 9,457 33.6 −6.5
Liberal National Casie Scott 8,709 30.9 −5.1
One Nation Allan Evans 5,611 19.9 +16.1
Greens Rebecca Ryan 3,057 10.9 +2.5
Independent Lindy Collins 1,330 4.7 +4.7
Total formal votes 28,164 96.1 −1.8
Informal votes 1,153 3.9 +1.8
Turnout 29,317 83.9 −1.8
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Scott Stewart 14,189 50.4 −5.3
Liberal National Casie Scott 13,975 49.6 +5.3
Labor hold Swing −5.3

References

  1. ↑ "ABC Electorate guide". Retrieved 2006-12-21.
  2. ↑ "Team Beattie Electorate guide". Archived from the original on 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  3. ↑ "Magnetic Island". Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  4. ↑ "Brisbane Institute - Lessons from Palm Island". Archived from the original on 2006-10-07. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  5. ↑ "Dept of Communities - Community Renewal". Archived from the original on 2006-08-20. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  6. ↑ "Electoral Commission of Queensland map of Electorate" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-17. Retrieved 2006-12-16.
  7. 1 2 "Representatives of Queensland State Electorates 1860 - 2012" (PDF). Queensland Parliament. Retrieved 2014-02-19.
  8. ↑ 2017 State General Election - Townsville - District Summary, ECQ.
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