Division of Dawson

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dawson Australian House of Representatives Division
State or territory:	Queensland
Created:	1949
MP:	James Bidgood
Party:	Labor
Namesake:	Anderson Dawson
Electors:	87,394
Area:	18,052 km² (6,969.9 sq mi)
Demographic:	Rural

The Division of Dawson is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Anderson Dawson, the first Labor Premier of Queensland and leader of the first parliamentary socialist government anywhere in the world. It is located on the central Queensland coast, taking in the towns of Ayr, Bowen, Mackay and Proserpine. Apart from a period between 1966 and 1975, it has always been held by Country Party and its successor the National Party Until 2007 when the member De-Anne Kelly was defeated by Labor's James Bidgood, a Mackay City Councillor, who achieved a 13% swing towards him. This was more than twice the national swing against the government.

[edit] Members

Member		Party	Term
	Charles Davidson	Country	1949—1963
	George Shaw	Country	1963—1966
	Rex Patterson	Labor	1966—1975
	Ray Braithwaite	National	1975—1996
	De-Anne Kelly	National	1996—2007
	James Bidgood	Labor	2007—present

[edit] Election results

Australian federal election, 2007: Dawson
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	James Bidgood	38,423	48.09	+16.44
	National	De-Anne Kelly	33,948	42.48	-3.04
	Greens	Peter Bell	3,489	4.37	+0.93
	Family First	Rena Lee	2,398	3.00	-0.09
	Democrats	Chris Doyle	1,216	1.52	+0.64
	Citizens Electoral Council	Andrew Harris	432	0.54	-1.87
Total formal votes			79,906	96.20	+1.65
Informal votes			3,156	3.80	-1.65
Turnout			83,062	95.04	-0.36
Two Candidate Preferred Result
	Labor	James Bidgood	42,520	53.21	+13.20
	National	De-Anne Kelly	37,386	46.79	-13.20
	Labor gain from National		Swing	+13.20

Australian federal election, 2004: Dawson
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	De-Anne Kelly	39,409	48.16	-2.06
	Labor	Cherry Feeney	25,626	31.32	-2.45
	Independent	Margaret F Menzel	5,647	6.90	+6.90
	Greens	Tony W Fontes	2,606	3.19	+0.74
	One Nation	Lewis Arroita	2,572	3.14	-5.45
	Family First	Bev Smith	2,435	2.98	+2.98
	Citizens Electoral Council	Jan Pukallus	2,192	2.68	+1.81
	Democrats	Archie Julien	690	0.84	-1.93
	New Country	Debbie Lowis	645	0.79	+0.79
Total formal votes			81,819	94.59	-0.69
Informal votes			4,683	5.41	+0.69
Turnout			86,502	94.42	-2.24
Two Candidate Preferred Result
	National	De-Anne Kelly	49,399	60.38	+2.39
	Labor	Cherry Feeney	32,420	39.62	-2.39
	National hold		Swing	+2.39

v • d • e Electoral Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in Queensland Blair · Bonner · Bowman · Brisbane · Capricornia · Dawson · Dickson · Fadden · Fairfax · Fisher · Flynn · Forde · Griffith · Groom · Herbert · Hinkler · Kennedy · Leichhardt · Lilley · Longman · Maranoa · McPherson · Moncrieff · Moreton · Oxley · Petrie · Rankin · Ryan · Wide Bay Abolished: Darling Downs · Oxley (1901-34) Divisions in: New South Wales · Victoria · Queensland · Western Australia · South Australia · Tasmania · Australian Capital and Northern Territories