Capricornia – Election 2010

ALP 12.1%

Incumbent MP
Kirsten Livermore, since 1998.

Geography
Central Queensland. Capricornia covers the Queensland coast from Rockhampton to just south of Mackay.

Redistribution
Capricornia lost a rural area to the south of Rockhampton to Flynn. At the northern end of the electorate Capricornia gained a piece of territory to the west of Mackay from Dawson and lost some territory to the south of Mackay.

History
Capricornia is an original federation electorate. After changing between a number of parties in early decades, it has been held by the ALP for most of the last half-century, with the exception of two wins by the Country/National Party at particular low-points for the ALP.

The seat was first won in 1901 by independent candidate Alexander Paterson. Paterson didn’t run for re-election in 1903, and was succeeded by the ALP’s David Thompson.

Thomson lost in 1906 to the Anti-Socialist Party’s Edward Archer. Archer too was defeated after one term, losing in 1910 to the ALP’s William Higgs.

Higgs was a former Senator for Queensland, who held Capricornia for the next decade. He served as Treasurer in Billy Hughes’ government from 1915 to 1916, resigning over Hughes’ support for conscription. Ironically he later left the ALP in 1920 and ended up in Hughes’ Nationalist Party. He failed to win re-election as a Nationalist in 1922, losing to the ALP’s Frank Forde.

Forde was the state MP for Rockhampton, and rose quickly in the federal Labor ranks. He served as a junior minister in the Scullin government, being promoted to cabinet in the final days of the government in 1931. Forde became Deputy Leader of the ALP in 1932.

Forde contested the leadership of the party in 1935, losing by one vote to John Curtin, having lost support due to his support for Scullin’s economic policies. He served as Minister for the Army during the Second World War on the election of the Curtin government.

Forde became Prime Minister in July 1945 upon the death of John Curtin, and served eight days before losing a leadership ballot to Ben Chifley. He served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence in the aftermath of the Second World War, until he lost Capricornia at the 1946 election, despite the ALP winning a comfortable victory.

Capricornia was won in 1946 by the Liberal Party’s Charles Davidson. Davidson moved to the new seat of Dawson in 1949, and went on to serve as a minister in the Menzies government before retiring in 1963.

Davidson was succeeded in Capricornia in 1949 by Henry Pearce, also from the Liberal Party. Pearce held Capricornia for twelve years, losing in 1961 to the ALP’s George Gray.

Gray held the seat until his death in 1967, and the ensuing by-election was won by Doug Everingham. He served as Minister for Health in the Whitlam government, but lost Capricornia in 1975 to Colin Carige of the National Country Party, winning it back in 1977. Everingham then managed to hold the seat until his retirement in 1984.

He was succeeded in 1984 by Keith Wright, who had been the Labor leader in the Queensland parliament since 1982 and member for Rockhampton since 1969. Wright held Capricornia until 1993, when he was charged with rape, leading to him losing his ALP endorsement. He contested Capricornia as an independent, but lost to ALP candidate Marjorie Henzell.

Henzell held the seat for one term, losing to National candidate Paul Marek in 1996. Marek also held the seat for one term, losing to the ALP’s Kirsten Livermore in 1998. Livermore has held the seat ever since.

Candidates

• Paul Bambrick (Greens)
• Steve Jeffery (Secular Party)
• Bevan Mowen (Independent)
• Sandra Corneloup (Family First)
• Kirsten Livermore (Labor)
• Michelle Landry (Liberal National)
• Shane Guley (Independent)

Political situation
This seat is very safe for the ALP and would only be vulnerable if the Coalition is performing very strongly.

2007 result

2007 two-candidate-preferred result

Results do not take into consideration effects of the redistribution.

Booth breakdown
Capricornia is covered by parts of four local government areas. There is only one booth in the Capricornia part of Whitsunday LGA, so it has been grouped with Mackay LGA as “North”. Isaacs council area has been left as a single group. Almost 50% of the population in Capricornia lives in the Rockhampton urban area, with another 20% living in the remainder of Rockhampton council area, so these areas have been split into two separate areas for analysis.

The ALP won majorities in all parts. They polled 66-67% in urban Rockhampton and Isaacs, and 56-58% in rural Rockhampton and the north. The Greens performed much stronger in rural Rockhampton then in the rest of the seat.