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| Adam Carr's Election Archive
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Australian federal election, 2019
Division of Groom, Queensland
South-east Queensland: Centenary Heights, Newtown, Oakey, Rangeville, Toowoomba
State seats: All of
Toowoomba North and
Toowoomba South, parts of
Condamine and
Nanango
Local government areas: Parts of Toowoomba
Enrolment at close of rolls: 105,984
1999 republic referendum: No 72.6
2018 same-sex marriage survey: No 50.8
Sitting member: Hon Dr John McVeigh (Liberal):
Elected 2016
2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 8.2%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 18.5%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 16.5%
2016 Liberal majority over Labor: 15.5%
2019 notional Liberal majority over Labor: 15.3%
Status: Safe Liberal
2016 results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
1. Alyse Nelligan
Australian Greens |
2. David King
Pauline Hanson's One Nation |
3. Perry Adrelius
Fraser Anning's Conservative
National Party
| 4. Hon Dr John McVeigh
Liberal Party |
5. Kenneth Law
United Australia Party |
 |
6. Troy Kay
Australian Labor Party |
Candidate websites:
Troy Kay
David King
Hon Dr John McVeigh
Alyse Nelligan
Division of Groom
Groom was created in 1984, when the old seat of Darling Downs, which had existed since Federation, was renamed.
The seat has always been based on the provincial centre of Toowoomba, and successive redistributions have cut
the seat back so that now it consists of little more than the city and a few rural areas to the west. Toowoomba
is a fairly prosperous town that serves as the administrative and economic centre of the Downs region, and is
one of the most conservative large centres in Australia. The seat has never come close to electing a Labor
member in its history, although Toowoomba has occasionally elected Labor state members.
The Toowoomba area's conservatism is partly explained by its fairly low level of median family income and its
very low level of people born in non English speaking countries, although as an administrative centre it has
more people in professional occupations than most rural cities.
Darling Downs was won in 1901 by William Groom, the only ex-convict elected to the national Parliament and the "father
of the House" of the first Parliament. His death later in 1901 led to the first federal by-election. He was succeeded by his son,
Littleton Groom (after whom the seat is now named), who as Speaker in 1929 helped bring down the Bruce government.
The most eminent member for Darling Downs was Sir Arthur Fadden, Country Party leader and briefly Prime
Minister in 1941, who held the seat from 1936 to 1949 before shifting to McPherson. Three subsequent members,
Sir Reginald Swartz, Tom McVeigh and Ian Macfarlane, have been Cabinet ministers. In the past the seat has been
held by the Country Party and its successors the Nationals, but the Liberals won it at the 1988 by-election
and have held it ever since. Ian Macfarlane was Industry Minister for six years in the Howard Government
and held the same position in the Abbott Government before being dropped by Malcolm Turnbull in 2015. He retired
in 2016.
Dr John McVeigh, Liberal MP for Groom since 2016, is the son of the former Nationals MP Tom McVeigh, and was
MLA for Toowoomba South 2012-16. He has a PhD in agribusiness management and was state Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry from 2012 to 2015. He gained rapid promotion and became Minister for Regional
Development, Territories and Local Government in December 2017, but was dropped from the Morrison ministry in
August 2018.
The Labor candidate in 2019 in Troy Kay, a financial adviser. The Greens candidate is Alyse Nelligan,
a disability advocate and activist. The One Nation candidate is David King, a businessman and postgraduate
student.
Demographics:
Median weekly household income: $1,298 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 17.1% (Australia 15.8%)
Indigenous: 4.0% (Australia 2.8%)
Australian born: 81.1% (Australia 66.7%)
Ancestry: German 8.0%
Non-English-speaking households: 7.3% (Australia 22.2%)
Catholics 23.4% (Australia 22.6%)
No religion 20.1% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 16.7% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 31.0% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 24.3% (Australia 22.9%)
Employed in agriculture: 6.3% (Australia 3.3%)
Paying a mortgage: 32.9% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 32.1% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 29.5% (Australia 32.8%)
Members:
Hon William Groom (Prot) 1901
Hon Sir Littleton Groom (Prot, Lib, Nat, Ind) 1901b-29
Arthur Morgan (Nat, UAP) 1929-31
Hon Sir Littleton Groom (Ind, UAP) 1931-36
Rt Hon Arthur Fadden (CP) 1936b-49
Hon Sir Reginald Swartz (Lib) 1949-72
Hon Tom McVeigh (CP, NCP, NPA) 1972-88
Bill Taylor (Lib) 1988b-98
Hon Ian Macfarlane (Lib) 1998-2016
Hon Dr John McVeigh (Lib) 2016-
Boundaries following 2018 redistribution:
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