Division of Herbert

Herbert Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Herbert in Queensland, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1901
MP	Cathy O'Toole
Party	Labor
Namesake	Robert Herbert
Electors	104,841 (2016)
Area	946 km^2 (365.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Herbert is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Herbert, to the Australian House of Representatives. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the 1901 election. It is located in northern Queensland, and is named after Sir Robert Herbert, the first Premier of Queensland (1859–1866). It has always been based on the city of Townsville, though on its original boundaries it extended from Mackay to the Torres Strait, covering from what are now the seats of Dawson through to Leichhardt. Successive redistributions have cut back the seat to little more than Townsville and its inner suburbs.

The seat had been a bellwether for all but two terms from the 1966 election until the 2007 election, where it was hotly contested with local identity and businessman George Colbran pre-selected by Labor to contest Herbert, however Liberal National Party (LNP) incumbent Peter Lindsay managed to retain the seat with a wafer-thin 50.2 percent two-party vote from a 6 percent two-party swing while his party lost government. LNP candidate Ewen Jones succeeded Lindsay and retained the seat at the following two elections with increased margins.

Last won by Labor at the 1993 federal election, Herbert featured the closest result of any division at the 2016 federal election. Following a recount, the Australian Electoral Commission confirmed on 31 July that Labor's Cathy O'Toole defeated the LNP incumbent by 37 votes.^[1][2] The LNP considered a legal challenge to the result.^[2][3]

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Fred Bamford	Labour	1901–1916
		National Labor	1917–1917
		Nationalist	1916–1925
	Lewis Nott	Nationalist	1925–1928
	George Martens	Labor	1928–1946
	Bill Edmonds	Labor	1946–1958
	John Murray	Liberal	1958–1961
	Ted Harding	Labor	1961–1966
	Robert Bonnett	Liberal	1966–1977
	Gordon Dean	Liberal	1977–1983
	Ted Lindsay	Labor	1983–1996
	Peter Lindsay	Liberal	1996–2010
	Ewen Jones	Liberal National	2010–2016
	Cathy O'Toole	Labor	2016–present

Election results

Australian federal election, 2016: Herbert^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal National	Ewen Jones	31,361	35.50	−7.84
	Labor	Cathy O'Toole	26,900	30.45	+1.07
	One Nation	Geoff Virgo	11,950	13.53	+12.70
	Katter's Australian	Colin Dwyer	6,070	6.87	−1.21
	Greens	Wendy Tubman	5,533	6.26	+1.02
	Family First	Michael Punshon	3,175	3.59	+2.29
	Glenn Lazarus Team	Aaron Raffin	1,937	2.19	+2.19
	Liberal Democrats	David Harris	1,096	1.24	+1.24
	Palmer United	Martin Brewster	315	0.36	−8.52
Total formal votes			88,337	93.12	−0.95
Informal votes			6,525	6.88	+0.95
Turnout			94,862	90.48	−2.88
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Cathy O'Toole	44,187	50.02	+6.19
	Liberal National	Ewen Jones	44,150	49.98	−6.19
	Labor gain from Liberal National		Swing	+6.19

References

1. Labor takes seat of Herbert, leaving Malcolm Turnbull with majority of just one seat: SMH 31 July 2016
2. Labor wins seat of Herbert after recount: ABC 31 July 2016
3. "LNP to consider legal action if it loses Herbert recount". Courier Mail. 29 July 2016.
4. Herbert, QLD, Virtual Tally Room, AEC.

External links

• Division of Herbert (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission

Coordinates: 19°12′29″S 146°36′58″E / 19.208°S 146.616°E