Division of Fairfax

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox Australian electorate The Division of Fairfax is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The current MP is Ted O'Brien of the Liberal Party.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

History

File:Ruth Fairfax.png

Ruth Fairfax, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 and is named after Ruth Fairfax, founder of the Country Women's Association. It is located in the Sunshine Coast region north of Brisbane and includes the towns of Coolum, Yaroomba, Marcoola, Mudjimba, Maroochydore, Buderim, Woombye, Bli Bli, Yandina, Nambour, Mapleton, Kenilworth and Eumundi.<ref>Australian Electoral Commission Map of the federal division Fairfax, accessed:07 May 2019</ref>

While the Sunshine Coast is traditionally a conservative area, Fairfax is located in a particularly conservative portion of the Sunshine Coast, and so has always been held by a centre-right party. Template:Citation needed Originally a safe seat for the National Party, demographic change has made it equally safe for the Liberal Party. Template:Citation needed

The electorate came to national attention at the 2013 federal election, when Clive Palmer, the founder of the Palmer United Party, narrowly won it by 53 votes. Template:Citation needed Before then, the Coalition's hold on the seat had only been seriously threatened twice, in 1998 and 2007. At all other times, it was a safe, or fairly safe, Coalition seat. Template:Citation needed

Palmer did not run for re-election, and it was widely expected that the seat would revert to the merged Liberal National Party because, in 2013, LNP would have retained it easily in a "traditional" two-party-preferred vote contest with Labor. Template:Citation needed As expected, Palmer's 2013 opponent, Ted O'Brien, won the seat resoundingly at the 2016 federal election and has held it without serious difficulty since. Template:Citation needed

Members

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
Template:Australian party style|	File:Evan Adermann.jpg	Evan Adermann Template:Small	Nationals	1 December 1984 – 19 February 1990	Previously held the Division of Fisher. Retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:Alex Somlyay.jpg	Alex Somlyay Template:Small	Liberal	24 March 1990 – 5 August 2013	Served as Minister under Howard. Retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:Clive Palmer Aug15 crop.jpg	Clive Palmer Template:Small	Palmer United	7 September 2013 – 9 May 2016	Retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:LNP Placeholder.png	Ted O'Brien Template:Small	LiberalTemplate:Efn	2 July 2016 – present	Incumbent

Election results

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} Template:Excerpt

External links

• Division of Fairfax (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission