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| Australian federal election, 2016
Division of Wide Bay, Queensland
Queensland Coast: Gympie, Maryborough, Noosa, Tewantin
Sitting member: Hon Warren Truss (Nationals), elected 1998. Retiring 2016
Enrolment at close of rolls: 102,910
2013 Nationals majority over Labor: 13.2%
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Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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1. Jannean Dean
Glenn Lazarus Team |
2. Elise Cottam
One Nation |
3. Lucy Stanton
Australian Labor Party |
4. Llew O'Brien
The Nationals |
5. Bron Marsh
Australian Greens |
6. Bruce Mayer
Family First |
7. Barry Cook
Katter's Australian Party |
2013 results
Statistics and history
Wide Bay has existed since Federation, and has always been based on the city of Maryborough and surrounding rural areas. Until 1984 it also included Bundaberg, and the strong Labor vote in these two cities meant that Labor could expect to win the seat in good years. Indeed, Wide Bay's first member was the three-time Labor Prime Minister Andrew Fisher. Labor last won Wide Bay in 1972, and the transfer of Bundaberg to Hinkler in 1984 made the seat much safer for the non-Labor side, although the impact of One Nation produced a huge swing and almost delivered the seat to Labor in 1998.
On its 2004 boundaries Wide Bay had the lowest median family income level of any electorate in Australia, relecting its large population of retired people and small farmers, plus a significant Indigenous population. The 2006 redistribution drew the seat to the south, removing the retirement centre of Hervey Bay and adding the booming tourist towns of Noosa and Tewantin. This boosted the seat's income levels and reduced the proportion of over-65s, but has not altered it much politically. In 2013 the Nationals carried every booth except Cooran and the Indigenous community at Cherbourg.
Warren Truss, Nationals MP for Wide bay since 1990, was a farmer from Kingaroy before his election. He was a senior minister in the Howard Government from 2005, when he became Deputy Leader of the Nationals. He succeeded Mark Vaile as Leader after the 2007 election, and was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development in the Abbott-Turnbull Government until his resignation in February. He will retire at this election.
Truss's successor as Nationals candidate is Llew O'Brien, a police officer. This was a surprising choice. In 2014 a police ethical standards investigation found that O'Brien had "inappropriately accessed Queensland Police Service information pertaining to two LNP pre-selection candidates for the seat of Nanango prior to the 2012 state election." The Labor candidate is Lucy Stanton, a small business owner. After 26 years, Truss has built up a formidable personal vote in Wide Bay, and it is possible that the seat is not as safe for the Nationals as its 13.2% margin would suggest. But it would require a big swing to Labor across Queensland for Labor to have a chance.
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Prospective pendulum, showing all candidates
State and territory maps, showing new boundaries
The thirty seats that will decide the election
Other seats of interest
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