Algester – Queensland 2012

ALP 9.2%

Incumbent MP
Karen Struthers, since 2001. Previously Member for Archerfield 1998-2001.

Geography
South-East Queensland. Algester covers southern parts of the City of Brisbane and parts of Logan City. Suburbs of Algester, Parkinson, Forestdale, Hillcrest, Boronia Heights and parts of Forest Lake.

History
The seat of Algester has existed since 2001, when it replaced the former seat of Archerfield, which had existed since 1972. Both of these seats has always been held by the Labor Party.

Karen Struthers won Archerfield in 1998, following on after the retirement of Len Ardill. Struthers moved to the new seat of Algester in 2001, and was re-elected there in 2004, 2006 and 2009. She has served as Minister for Community Services and Housing and Minister for Women since the 2009 election.

Candidates
Sitting Labor MP Karen Struthers is running for re-election. The LNP is again running 2009 candidate Anthony Shorten. Katter’s Australian Party is running Gavan Duffy.

Political situation
Algester is held by the ALP by 9.2%, which would be overturned if current polling was translated into a uniform swing.

2009 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Karen Struthers ALP 13,600 52.6 -8.2
Anthony Shorten LNP 9,174 35.5 +7.4
Stan Cajdler GRN 1,920 7.4 -1.9
Steve Christian FF 1,147 4.4 +2.7

2009 two-candidate-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Karen Struthers ALP 14,451 59.2 -8.6
Anthony Shorten LNP 9,956 40.8 +8.6

Booth breakdown
Booths in Algester have been divided into three areas: Forest Lake in the west, and areas in the east and south.

The ALP polled a majority in all three areas. The ALP’s vote peaked in the south, while the LNP’s vote was at its highest in the east.

Polling booths in Algester at the 2009 state election. East in blue, Forest Lake in green, South in orange.

 

Voter group ALP % LNP % GRN % Total votes % of votes
East 50.4 38.3 6.8 8,653 33.5
Forest Lake 53.9 35.3 7.3 5,741 22.2
South 55.9 31.9 7.9 5,522 21.4
Other votes 51.6 35.1 8.2 5,925 22.9
Labor primary votes in Algester at the 2009 state election.
Liberal National primary votes in Algester at the 2009 state election.

8 COMMENTS

  2. Karen (or Ms Struthers) from I have heard is a real target and although this is ALP heartland this one should should go.
    Best of Luck to my old friend Gavan Duffy. Gavan is a long standing DLP supporter and has written books such as Demons and Democrats and Labour and Justice.
    I’m sure that Ms Struthers will receive special attention from Gavan.

  4. People keep saying this is ALP heartland however at Federal Elections it is a 50/50 proposition in areas like Forest Lake, and if they had selected Tarnya Smith or an equally quality alternative from the start instead of choosing a bench warmer it may have been in the LNP’s favour. Also at Local Level the LNP holds Parkinson which covers a lot of this seat with a +5% margin.

  5. Federal and state politics frequently don’t mesh. In WA, the state Liberal party has a minority govt not much more comfortable than Julia Gillard’s, but they hold 11 federal seats out of 15, compared to only 3 Labor. Meanwhile, WA Labor’s safest seats in the state parliament are in bogan dust areas far from the river or the beach, in Cowan or Hasluck… both federal seats held by the Liberals. Don’t read too much into any superficial similarities or differences between different levels of government… especially not in Qld, with its history of political lunacy.

  6. I agree that the different levels often don’t match, however trying to claim that everyone who lives in a particular area is a rusted on ALP voter is not true; something which I pointed out by highlighting the voting patterns at the two other levels. At least half of voters in a large part of Algester have voted LNP in the last few elections (and of course vice-versa) which shows that there is room for the LNP to gain votes as it is not as ‘dead red’ as some portray.

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