The Division of Forde is an Australian Electoral Division in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.

History

The division was created in 1984 and is named after

Frank Forde Francis Michael Forde (18 July 189028 January 1983) was an Australian politician who served as prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1932 to 1946. He served as pri ...

, who was

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...

for seven days in 1945 following the death of

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

. When it was created it was a marginal seat in the southern suburbs of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, but it now has no territory in common with the original seat and is located in exurban and semi-rural areas south of the city, including

Beenleigh Beenleigh is a town and suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Beenleigh had a population of 8,252 people. A government survey for the new town was conducted in 1866. The town is the terminus for the Beenlei ...

and

Loganlea Loganlea is a suburb in the City of Logan, Queensland, Australia. In the , Loganlea had a population of 7,321 people. Geography The eastern boundary of Loganlea is marked by a winding section of the Logan River. The north of the suburb is a ...

. It was a fairly safe seat for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

after the 2004 election. Kay Elson announced that she would not re-contest her seat in the 2007 election. Wendy Creighton, a Boonah resident and editor of the local newspaper, the ''Fassifern Guardian'', contested Forde as the Liberal candidate instead. She was defeated at the Federal election by

Brett Raguse Brett Blair Raguse (born 24 March 1960) is a former Australian politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 2007 to 2010, representing the Division of Forde for the Australian Labor Party (ALP). Early life Raguse was born in ...

, the opposing Labor Party candidate, making Forde the safest Liberal Party seat to be claimed by the Labor Party at the 2007 election. The seat returned to the LNP with Bert van Manen in 2010. Incumbent van Manen then held on to the seat during the 2013, 2016 & 2019 elections. Ahead of the 2016 federal election,

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

psephologist

Antony Green Antony John Green (born 2 March 1960) is an Australian psephologist and commentator. He is the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's chief election analyst. Early years and background Born in Warrington, Lancashire, in northern England, Gree ...

listed the seat in his election guide as one of eleven which he classed as "

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Ret ...

" electorates.

Roy Morgan Research Roy Morgan, formerly known as Roy Morgan Research, is an independent Australian social and political market research and public opinion statistics company headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. It operates nationally as Roy Morgan and internation ...

found the Division of Forde to be the least politically involved electorate in Australia, with only 7% of voters interested in political analysis as a type of media content.

Members

Election results

: :

References

External links

Division of Forde (Qld)
—

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forde, Division of Electoral divisions of Australia Constituencies established in 1984 1984 establishments in Australia