Adam Carr's guide to
the 42nd Parliament
of the
Commonwealth of Australia


The House of Representatives

Queensland
Berowra                

Division of Blair

                Blaxland


Shayne Neumann (ALP)

His ALP website













































Location: West of Brisbane: Boonah, Ipswich, Laidley, Redbank Plains
Division named for: Harold Blair, Indigenous singer and political activist
Median weekly family income: $818 (111th highest)
Persons born in non English speaking countries: 3.8% (131st highest)
Persons in professional occupations: 18.6% (129th highest)
Persons aged 65 and over: 11.3% (106th highest)
Couple families with dependent children: 38.5% (71st highest)
Dwellings being purchased: 30.9% (39th highest)
Sitting member: Shayne Neumann (ALP), elected 2007
Born: 26 August 1961, Ipswich, Queensland. Career: Educated University of Queensland. Lawyer, practising in family law.
1998 two-party majority: Liberal over One Nation 03.3
2001 two-party majority: Liberal 06.7
Effect of 2004 redistribution: 01.8 shift to Labor
2004 two-party majority: Liberal 11.2
Effect of 2006 redistribution: 05.5 shift to Labor
2007 notional two-party majority: Liberal 05.7
2007 two-party majority: Labor 04.5




2004 enrolment: 91,529
2007 enrolment: 90,977 (-01.7%) (new boundaries)
Blair was created in 1998, from parts of the old seats of Oxley and Longman. It was then a largely rural seat with parts of western Ipswich. Like many rural or semi-rural seats, it combines a relatively low income level with a very low level of people born in non English speaking countries, a combination which usually indicates conservatism. Blair attracted national attention at the 1998 election because Pauline Hanson, the extreme right-wing member for Oxley, elected as a disendorsed Liberal in 1996, stood in Blair for her new One Nation party. She topped the poll on primaries, but was defeated on preferences by the Liberal Cameron Thompson, who then retained the seat without much difficulty. The 2006 redistribution, however, moved the seat eastwards, removing many of its rural areas and putting the eastern half of Ipswich, which is strongly Labor, into the seat. This, combined with the strong state-wide swing against the Howard government, allowed Labor's Shayne Neumann to pinch the seat in 2007. His future here will depend on the next redistribution as well as the fortunes of the Rudd government. In 2004 the Liberals carried every booth outside the Ipswich area, but in 2007 Labor won several country booths as well as sweeping the Ipswich area. Labor polled 70% of the two-party vote at Riverview, and topped 65% at two booths in Bundamba, Dinmore, East Ipswich School, Kruger School, Leichhardt School, One Mile, Redbank Plains and Silkstone. The Liberals polled 77% of the two-party vote at Mt Sylvia and over 70% at a number of other rural booths.
 

Two-party vote by booth, 2007 Click to enlarge map

Two party swing by booth, 2007 Click to enlarge map
















Members for Blair


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