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.
- Royston Pickering (Family First)
- David Wyatt (Greens)
- Calum Hyslop (Labor)
- Jann Stuckey (Liberal National)
- Steve Bowman (Katter’s Australian Party)
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.
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 |
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.
My prediction: LNP retain
LNP retain