Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive

Adam Carr's Election Archive

Australian federal election, 2022
Division of Groom, Queensland

Named for: Hon Sir Littleton Groom (1867-1936), federal MP 1901-29, 1931-36, Speaker 1926-29.


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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
Borders with: Maranoa and Wright
Enrolment at 2019 election: 105,984
Enrolment at 2022 election: 110,932 (+04.7)
1999 republic referendum: No 72.6
2018 same-sex marriage survey: No 50.8


Sitting member: Garth Hamilton (Liberal): Elected 2020 by-election

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 Liberal majority over Labor: 20.5%
2020 by-election Liberal majority over Labor: 17.2%

Nationals-Liberal two-party vote 1983-2019

Status: Very safe Liberal

Best Liberal booths, two-party vote: Quinalow (89.1), Brookstead (88.2), Kulpi (85.4), Jondaryan (84.7), Mount Tyson (84.6)
Best Labor booths, two-party vote: Newtown (44.1), Harlaxton North (41.8), Toowoomba Taylor St (41.6), Mount Lofty (41.2), Toowoomba South (40.5)


  • 2019 results
  • 2020 by-election results
  • Statistics and history

  • Candidates in ballot-paper order:

    1. Ryan Otto
    Australian Federation Party
    2. Grant Abraham
    Pauline Hanson's One Nation
    3. Mickey Berry
    Australian Greens
    4. Melissa Bannister
    United Australia Party
    5. Kirstie Smolenski
    Independent
    6. Suzie Holt
    Independent
    7. Garth Hamilton
    Liberal Party
    8. Gen Allpass
    Australian Labor Party

    Candidate websites:

    Grant Abraham
    Gen Allpass
    Melissa Bannister
    Mickey Berry
    Garth Hamilton
    Suzie Holt
    Ryan Otto
    Kirstie Smolenski

    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 from 2016 to 2020, is the son of the former Nationals MP Tom McVeigh, and was MLA for Toowoomba South 2012-16. 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. He resigned his seat in September 2020 owing to the serious illness of his wife.

    Garth Hamilton, Liberal MP for Groom since the November 2020 by-election, was a mining engeineer before his election. There was only a modest swing to Labor at the by-election, and Hamilton wil now be secure in one of the safest Liberal seats in Australia. The Labor candidate is Genevieve Allpass, a teacher. The Greens candidate in Mickey Berry, who works in customer service. Suzie Holt, a social worker, will run as an independent endorsed by the Voices of Groom movement.

    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%)



    Gallery of Members for Groom



    Boundaries following most recent redistribution:



    See full-size map of this Division



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