Currumbin – Queensland 2012

LNP 6.9%

Incumbent MP
Jann Stuckey, since 2004.

Geography
Gold Coast. Currumbin is the southernmost electorate in the Gold Coast, bordering New South Wales. It covers the suburbs of Coolangatta, Tugun, Currumbin and Elanora, as well as the Currumbin and Tallebudgera valleys.

History
The seat of Currumbin has existed since 1986. The seat has alternated between all three major parties, and has been held by the Liberal Party/LNP since 2004.

The seat was first won in 1986 by the National Party’s Leo Gately. In 1989, Gately was defeated by the Liberal Party’s Trevor Coomber. Coomber was defeated in 1992 by the ALP’s Merri Rose.

Rose was re-elected in 1995, 1998 and 2001, and joined the ministry after the 2001 election.

In 2004, Rose was defeated by the Liberal Party’s Jann Stuckey. Rose was later convicted of demanding benefit with threats due to her attempts to find work in the public service following her election loss, and she was sentence to 18 months in prison.

Jann Stuckey retained Currumbin at the 2006 and 2009 elections, and is now a frontbencher as part of the LNP opposition.

Candidates
Sitting Liberal National MP Jann Stuckey is running for re-election. Katter’s Australian Party is running Steve Bowman.

Political situation
Currumbin is a reasonably safe LNP seat and should be retained.

2009 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Jann Stuckey LNP 13,790 51.1 +3.2
Michael Riordan ALP 9,876 36.6 -6.1
Inge Light GRN 2,484 9.2 -0.2
Jason Hockings DSQ 850 3.1 +3.1

2009 two-candidate-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Jann Stuckey LNP 14,551 56.9 +4.7
Michael Riordan ALP 11,025 43.1 -4.7

Booth breakdown
Booths in Currumbin have been divided into three areas. Booths in the Coolangatta suburb on the eastern end of the seat have been grouped together, with the remainder divided into ‘central’ and ‘west’.

The LNP won a majority of the vote in Coolangatta and the west, and 49% of the vote in the centre of the seat.

Polling booths in Currumbin at the 2009 state election. Coolangatta in yellow, Central in blue, West in green.

 

Voter group LNP % ALP % GRN % Total votes % of votes
Central 49.1 38.0 9.4 13,020 48.2
Coolangatta 51.1 37.2 9.1 5,233 19.4
West 53.6 33.1 9.4 2,530 9.4
Other votes 54.1 34.4 8.8 6,217 23.0
Liberal National primary votes in Currumbin at the 2009 state election.
Labor primary votes in Currumbin at the 2009 state election.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Weird fact about Currumbin: it was the only Labor seat on the Gold Coast at the 1995 and 1998 elections (including the time of Borbidge’s minority govt). Labor won all their other Gold Coast seats at the 2001 landslide; meanwhile, Merri Rose’s scandal caused a 17.7% swing against Labor in 2004, which caused the Liberals to get it back early. It’s had a different political history to the rest of the Gold Coast.

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