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2012 Queensland state election

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All 89 seats in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 45 Assembly seats were needed for a majority
Turnout	91.00% ( 0.07 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Campbell Newman Anna Bligh Aidan McLindon Party Liberal National Labor Katter's Australian Leader since 22 March 2011 (2011-03-22) 13 September 2007 (2007-09-13) 9 August 2011 (2011-08-09) Leader's seat Ashgrove (won seat) South Brisbane Beaudesert (lost seat) Last election 34 seats, 41.60% 51 seats, 42.25% Did not contest Seats before 33 seats 51 seats 1 seat Seats won 78 7 2 Seat change 45 44 1 Popular vote 1,214,553 652,092 282,098 Percentage 49.7% 26.7% 11.5% Swing 8.1 15.6 11.5 TPP 62.8% 37.2% TPP swing 13.7 13.7
Winning margin by electorate.
Premier before election Anna Bligh Labor Elected Premier Campbell Newman Liberal National

The 2012 Queensland state election was held on 24 March 2012 to elect all 89 members of the Legislative Assembly, a unicameral parliament.

The Labor Party (ALP), led by Premier Anna Bligh, was defeated by the opposition Liberal National Party (LNP), led by Campbell Newman in a landslide victory. It is only the sixth time that Queenslanders have ousted a sitting government since 1915. The ALP was attempting to win a ninth consecutive election victory, having won every general election since 1989, despite being out of office between 1996 and 1998. Katter's Australian Party contested its first election. Before the election, it held two seats whose members had been elected as LNP candidates.

Labor suffered one of the worst defeats of a state government since Federation, and the worst defeat of a sitting government in Queensland history. From 51 seats in 2009, it was reduced to only seven seats, suffering a swing of 15.6 percentage points. The LNP won a majority for the first time in its history, jumping from 34 to 78 seats to win the largest majority government in Queensland history. It was the first outright non-Labor majority since the Queensland Nationals won their last victory in 1986. Katter's Australian Party won two seats, though leader Aidan McLindon lost his own seat. The remaining two seats were taken by independents. Newman took office two days after the election.

Historically, Queenslanders have given their governments long tenures in office. The 2012 election marked only the sixth change of government in the state since 1915.

Background

In choosing 24 March, Bligh made the unusual step of announcing the election date two months prior. Bligh was criticised for selecting a date which required the postponement of local government elections. Bligh has said that date allowed Queenslanders to view the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the 2010–11 Queensland floods before they vote. Normal practice in Australia is for parliament to be dissolved at the time of the election announcement. However, Bligh did not formally ask Governor Penelope Wensley to dissolve Parliament until 19 February. Wensley granted the request, formally beginning the 35-day campaign. By not asking for a dissolution in January, Bligh avoided placing the government in caretaker mode for 25 days.

Leadership of the Liberal National Party

Campbell Newman was elected leader of the LNP in early 2011 while he was the Lord Mayor of Brisbane. Standard practice calls for an MP from a safe seat to resign so that a newly elected leader can get into parliament via a by-election, though this is not universally followed. However, when Newman won the leadership in 2011, a by-election could not be arranged. For this reason, Jeff Seeney was elected as interim parliamentary leader of the LNP and Leader of the Opposition. Newman led the LNP election team from outside of parliament, often sitting at the galleries, and simultaneously contested the seat of Ashgrove as the LNP candidate.

Disendorsed candidates

The Liberal National Party disendorsed two candidates for the Gold Coast seat of Broadwater. Richard Townson was caught drink driving with a blood alcohol content of 0.07 when he was in a police random breath test. Cameron Caldwell was disendorsed when he confirmed he had attended a Gold Coast swingers' club.

The Australian Labor Party disendorsed candidate Peter Watson for the seat of Southern Downs and expelled him from the party for making racist and homophobic remarks online.

Katter appeal on ballot papers

On 2 March 2012, Katter's Australian Party sought an injunction in the Supreme Court of Queensland to have more than 2 million ballot papers shredded and reprinted. The party said the Queensland Electoral Commission used the party's abbreviated name, "The Australian Party", instead of its registered name, "Katter's Australian Party (Qld Division)", which the party claimed could confuse voters. Bligh said that her lawyers had advised her to reschedule the election if Katter's challenge succeeded.

On 7 March, Supreme Court Justice Roslyn Atkinson referred the matter to the Queensland Court of Appeal as matters of constitutional law in the case were outside her jurisdiction. The Court of Appeal rejected the constitutional arguments and dismissed the appeal the following day.

Key dates

Retiring members

Labor

• Julie Attwood (Mount Ommaney) — Announced 16 January 2012
• Desley Boyle (Cairns) — Announced 17 February 2011
• Paul Lucas (Lytton) — Announced 15 September 2011
• Carolyn Male (Pine Rivers) — Announced 3 February 2012
• John Mickel (Logan) — Announced 10 August 2011
• Lindy Nelson-Carr (Mundingburra) — Announced 28 March 2011
• Neil Roberts (Nudgee) — Announced 12 December 2011
• Stephen Robertson (Stretton) — Announced 27 March 2011
• Robert Schwarten (Rockhampton) — Announced 17 February 2011
• Judy Spence (Sunnybank) — Announced 15 December 2010

Liberal National

• Mike Horan (Toowoomba South) — Announced 26 March 2011

Independent

• Dorothy Pratt (Nanango) — Announced 15 April 2011

Results

The estimated two-party preferred result was 37.2% for Labor and 62.8% for the LNP, a swing of 13.7% from Labor's result of 2009.

The LNP had been unbackable favourites to win the election. By the time the writs were issued, they had led opinion polling for over a year, and had been ahead of Labor on all but one Newspoll since 2010.

The LNP swept Labor from power in a massive landslide, taking 78 seats to Labor's seven on a two-party-preferred swing of 13.7 points away from Labor. The 44-seat loss is double the 22-seat loss suffered by the Nationals in the 1989 election, the previous record for the worst defeat of a sitting government in Queensland history. The 13.7-percent swing is one of the largest against a sitting state government in Australia since World War II.

In the process, the LNP won many seats considered Labor heartland. It broke Labor's longstanding grip on Brisbane, taking all but three of the city's 40 seats, some on swings of 10 points or more. By comparison, Labor went into the election holding all but six seats in the capital, which had been its power base for over 20 years. In every election since the "one vote, one value" reforms of the Goss government, Labor had won at least 30 seats in Brisbane. The LNP also won every seat on the Gold Coast while strengthening its hold on its traditional heartlands in provincial and rural Queensland. Ten members of Bligh's cabinet were defeated. Newman won Ashgrove handily, defeating Labor's Kate Jones on a 13-point swing, almost double the 7-point swing he needed to take the seat off Labor.

ABC News called the election for the LNP at 6:48 pm Queensland time, less than an hour after counting began. Bligh conceded defeat at 8:25 pm, and Newman publicly claimed victory 20 minutes later.

The day after the election, Bligh resigned as premier and Queensland Labor leader. She also announced she was resigning from parliament on 30 March and retiring from politics, triggering a by-election in her seat of South Brisbane. An hour later, Newman, who at the time did not know that Bligh had resigned, announced that he would be sworn in as premier on 26 March, heading an interim three-man cabinet composed of himself, Seeney and Tim Nicholls. Although Newman's victory was beyond doubt, counting was still under way in some seats. Bligh handed in her resignation later on the afternoon of 25 March, but remained as caretaker until Newman was sworn in the next day.

Labor was reduced to its smallest presence in the legislature on record, outdoing its previous low in 1974, when it was cut down to a "cricket team" of only 11 members at the height of Joh Bjelke-Petersen's power. Indeed, Michael Madigan of The Courier-Mail wrote that Labor had been reduced to a "water polo squad."

Although Labor came up two seats short of official party status in the legislature, Newman promised that Labor would be "properly resourced as an opposition".

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Liberal National	1,214,553	49.66	8.06	78	44
	Labor	652,092	26.66	15.59	7	44
	Katter's Australian Party	282,098	11.53	New	2	New
	Greens	184,147	7.53	0.84	0	0
	Independents	77,282	3.16	3.42	2	2
	Family First	33,269	1.36	0.54	0	0
	One Nation	2,525	0.10	0.28	0	0
Total		2,445,966	100.00	–	89	–
Valid votes		2,445,966	97.85
Invalid/blank votes		53,797	2.15	0.21
Total votes		2,499,763	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		2,746,844	91.00	0.07
Two-party-preferred
	Liberal National		62.8	13.7
	Labor		37.2	13.7
Total
Source: The two-party preferred summary is an estimate by Antony Green using a methodology by Malcolm Mackerras.

Seats changing hands

• Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
• Shane Knuth was elected as a member of the Liberal National Party, but resigned and joined Katter's Australian Party in 2011.
• The Liberal National Party also retained the seats of Beaudesert, where the sitting Liberal National member had resigned and contested the election as a member of Katter's Australian Party. The Liberal National Party also retained the seat of Burnett, where the sitting Liberal National member had resigned and contested the election as an Independent.

Post-election pendulum

Subsequent changes

• On 30 March 2012, former Premier Anna Bligh (South Brisbane) resigned. At the by-election on 28 April 2012, Jackie Trad retained the electorate for the Labor Party.
• On 28 November 2012, Ray Hopper (Condamine) resigned from the Liberal National Party and joined Katter's Australian Party.
• On 30 November 2012, Carl Judge (Yeerongpilly) resigned from the Liberal National Party and sat as an Independent. He then joined the Palmer United Party on 7 June 2013, but resigned on 8 October 2014 and again sat as an Independent.
• On 1 December 2012, Alex Douglas (Gaven) resigned from the Liberal National Party and sat as an Independent. He then joined the Palmer United Party on 7 Jun 2013, but resigned on 18 August 2014 and again sat as an Independent.
• On 19 April 2013, Scott Driscoll (Redcliffe) resigned from the Liberal National Party and sat as an Independent. On 19 November 2013 he resigned. At the by-election on 22 February 2014, Yvette D'Ath gained the seat for the Labor Party.
• On 23 May 2014, Chris Davis (Stafford) resigned. At the by-election on 19 July 2014, Anthony Lynham gained the seat for the Labor Party.

Retiring MPs

The following Members of Parliament stood down at the election:

Labor

• Julie Attwood (Mount Ommaney) – announced 16 January 2012
• Desley Boyle (Cairns) – announced 17 February 2011
• Paul Lucas (Lytton) – announced 15 September 2011
• Carolyn Male (Pine Rivers) – announced 3 February 2012
• John Mickel (Logan) – announced 10 August 2011
• Lindy Nelson-Carr (Mundingburra) – announced 28 March 2011
• Neil Roberts (Nudgee) – announced 12 December 2011
• Stephen Robertson (Stretton) – announced 27 March 2011
• Robert Schwarten (Rockhampton) – announced 17 February 2011
• Judy Spence (Sunnybank) – announced 15 December 2010

LNP

• Mike Horan (Toowoomba South) – announced 26 March 2011

Independent

• Dorothy Pratt (Nanango) – announced 15 April 2011

Polling

Newspoll and Galaxy polling was conducted via random telephone number selection in city and country areas. Sampling sizes usually consist of around 800-1000 electors, with the declared margin of error at around ±3 percent.

Graphical summary

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Better Premier and leadership approval graphical summary

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Newspaper endorsements

See also

• Candidates of the 2012 Queensland state election
• Politics of Queensland

References

1. Aidan McLindon, the then-Member for Beaudesert, resigned from the LNP in 2010 and later created The Queensland Party, which merged with Katter's Australian Party in 2011, resulting in him becoming their state leader.
2. McLindon joined the KAP in 2011 and became their state leader after merging his Queensland Party into the KAP. He was elected in 2009 as a member of the LNP.

1. Bligh officially sets Queensland election date. ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
2. Wordsworth, Matt (25 January 2012). "Bligh's poll timing sparks outcry". PM. Australia: ABC News. Archived from the original on 26 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
3. ^ Wordsworth, Matt (25 January 2012). "Qld to have March 24 poll". PM. Australia: ABC News. Archived from the original on 21 February 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
4. "Bligh officially sets Queensland election date". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
5. Green, Antony. Queensland election preview Archived 11 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 25 January 2012.
6. Robinson, Paul (23 March 2011). LNP leadership wrangle a 'Campbell shambles' Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
7. "LNP loses a second Broadwater candidate". Brisbane Times. 24 February 2012. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
8. "ALP candidate for Southern Downs Peter Watson expelled over online posts regarding homophobia and neo-nazis". The Courier-Mail. 21 February 2012. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
9. "Katter wants millions of ballots shredded". Brisbane Times. 2 March 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
10. "Bob Katter's Australian Party goes to court to settle ballot branding issue". The Courier-Mail. 5 March 2012. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
11. "Katter ballots case sent to higher court". Brisbane Times. 7 March 2012. Archived from the original on 9 March 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
12. "Bob Katter loses bid to have his name on ballot papers for state election". The Courier-Mail. 8 March 2012. Archived from the original on 16 April 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
13. "Election Timetable: 2012 State General election". Electoral Commission of Queensland. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
14. ^ "Newman team moves into George Street". Brisbane Times. 26 March 2012. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
15. "Premier announces new Ministry". Department of Premier and Cabinet. 30 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
16. "Queensland Parliamentary Record The 54th Parliament 15 May 2012 – 6 January 2015" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023 – via parliament.qld.gov.au.
17. "Julie Attwood to bow out". Courier Mail. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
18. ^ "QLD MPs to step down at election". Brisbane Times. 15 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
19. "Pine Rivers MP Carolyn Male quits politics". Courier Mail. 3 February 2012.
20. Helbig, Koren (12 December 2011). "Queensland Police Minister Neil Roberts is eighth Labor MP to quit before state election". Courier Mail. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
21. "As the major parties goe to war, Dolly calls it a day". Brisbanetimes.com.au. 16 April 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
22. "Galaxy Poll Results" (PDF). News Online. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
23. As it happened: LNP pulls off crushing winArchived 24 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine. ABC News, 24 March 2012.
24. "Bligh resigns after election wipe-out". Australia: ABC News. 25 March 2012. Archived from the original on 25 March 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
25. Helbig, Koren; Vogler, Sarah (25 March 2012). "Anna Bligh quits: 'Labor cannot rebuild with me in its ranks'". The Courier Mail. Brisbane. Archived from the original on 1 April 2012. Retrieved 25 March 2012.
26. Madigan, Michael (17 March 2012). "Queensland Labor barely alive after future leadership decapitated in state election". The Courier-Mail.
27. "Fixed four-year terms on the horizon in the Sunshine State". The Australian. 29 March 2012. Archived from the original on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
28. Moore, Tony; Hurst, Daniel (13 January 2012). "Ninth Labor MP to quit as poll rumours swirl". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
29. ^ "QLD MPs to step down at election". Brisbane Times. 15 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
30. "Pine Rivers MP Carolyn Male quits politics". The Courier Mail. 3 February 2012.
31. Helbig, Koren (12 December 2011). "Queensland Police Minister Neil Roberts is eighth Labor MP to quit before state election". The Courier Mail. Archived from the original on 14 September 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
32. Moore, Tony (16 April 2011). "As the major parties go to war, 'Dolly' calls it a day". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 20 September 2011. Retrieved 25 January 2012.
33. "Labor's day of reckoning arrives in Queensland". The Australian. 24 March 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2012.

External links

• Electoral Commission Queensland
• 2012 Queensland election – Antony Green ABC
• A map of state electoral divisions in Queensland, courtesy of Courier Mail
• Post-election pendulum: Antony Green ABC
• Queensland State and Local Election Photographs 2012, State Library of Queensland

v t e Elections and referendums in Queensland
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See also: State by-elections

• Elections in Queensland
• 2012 elections in Australia
• 2010s in Queensland
• March 2012 events in Australia
• Landslide victories
• Liberal National Party of Queensland