Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive

Adam Carr's Election Archive

Australian federal election, 2025
Division of Herbert, Queensland

Named for: Hon Sir Robert Herbert (1831-1905), Qld MP 1860-66, first Premier of Qld 1859-66


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North Queensland: Condon, Kirwan, Mount Louisa, Mundingburra, Townsville

Enrolment at 2019 election: 108,434
Enrolment at 2022 election: 114,164 (+05.4)
1999 republic referendum: No 61.5
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 62.8
2023 Voice referendum: No 75.7

Sitting member: Phillip Thompson OAM (Liberal): Elected 2019, 2022


2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 0.2%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 2.2%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 6.3%
2016 Labor majority over Liberal: 0.0%
2019 Liberal majority over Labor: 8.4%
2022 Liberal majority over Labor: 11.8%

Status: Fairly safe Liberal
Liberal two-party vote 1983-2022


  • 2022 results
  • Statistics and history

  • Announced candidates:

    Edwina Andrew
    Australian Labor Party
    Phillip Thompson
    Liberal Party

    Division of Herbert

    Herbert has existed since Federation, and once covered all of north Queensland. Since 1949 it has consisted of Townsville and surrounding areas. The 2006 redistribution cut it back to the city and suburbs, making it an entirely urban seat for the first time. It was unchanged by the 2018 redistribution. Townsville is a regional administrative centre and a booming tourist town, so Herbert has a somewhat higher level of median family income than most regional seats, and also a high proportion of government employees, including many defence personnel.

    For most of its early history Herbert was a safe Labor seat, although its first Labor member retained it as a Nationalist for most of the 1920s. In recent times, as Labor's regional base has declined, Herbert has trended Liberal, a process hastened by the large military vote. Labor retains strength in the older parts of the city, and also among the Indigenous voters of Palm Island, but Townsville's new outer suburbs tend to be more conservative. Labor lost the seat in 1966, and did not regain it until 1983, when Ted Lindsay won it in the Hawke landslide and held it until 1996. Peter Lindsay (no relation) won the seat for the Liberals in 1996, and retained it without too much difficulty until his retirement in 2010, when Ewen Jones retained it with a swing in his favour. He increased his majority in 2013.

    In 2016, however, there was a sharp and unexpected swing to Labor, and after an epic count Herbert fell by 37 votes to Labor's Cathy O'Toole, who had also contested the seat in 2013. As Labor's most marginal seat, Herbert was hotly contested in 2019, and its loss in the anti-Labor sweep of regional Queensland was so surprise.

    Phillip Thompson OAM, Liberal MP for Herbert since 2019, is a veteran of the Afghanistan war and was 2018 Young Queenslander of the Year. Having gained an 8% swing in 2019 and a further 3% in 2022, he is now probably fairly secure, although Labor won all the Townsville seats at the 2020 state election. The Labor candidate in 2025 will be Edwina Andrew, who works in the youth justice system.

    Boundaries following most recent redistribution:



    See full-size map of this Division



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