Dickson – Australia 2025

LNP 1.7%

Incumbent MP
Peter Dutton, since 2001.

Geography
Dickson covers the north-western suburbs of Brisbane and adjoining rural areas. It covers most of the former Pine Rivers Shire, now included in the Moreton Bay Council. Suburbs include Ferny Hills, Albany Creek, Strathpine, Petrie and Kallangur. Further west it includes areas such as Dayboro, Mount Samson and Samford Village.

History

Dickson was created for the 1993 election, though it was not filled until a supplementary election a month after the general election following the death of an independent candidate during the campaign. It was won for the ALP by Michael Lavarch, who transferred to the seat from Fisher, which he had represented since 1987, defeating the Liberal candidate, future Queensland state Liberal Party leader Dr Bruce Flegg.

Lavarch served as Attorney-General in the Keating government, but was defeated in the 1996 landslide by Liberal Tony Smith.

Smith lost the Liberal endorsement for the 1998 election and recontested the seat as an Independent. A leakage of preferences from his 9% primary vote presumably assisted the narrow, 176-vote victory by ALP star recruit, former Democrats leader Cheryl Kernot.

Kernot was defeated in 2001 by the Liberals’ Peter Dutton, who has held the seat ever since.

Peter Dutton has held his seat ever since. He served as a junior minister in the final term of the Howard government and as a senior minister in the Coalition government from 2013 until 2022. After the Coalition’s defeat at the 2022 election, he was elected as leader of the opposition.

Candidates

  • Ali France (Labor)
  • Assessment
    Dickson is quite a marginal seat and it is worth watching. Labor did quite poorly in Queensland in 2022 compared to other states. If they benefit from incumbency they could pick up a substantial amount of ground in Queensland.

    It’s also worth noting that Dutton has increased his profile now as leader of his party, which will probably improve his position in his local seat.

    2022 result

    Candidate Party Votes % Swing
    Peter Dutton Liberal National 41,657 42.1 -3.9
    Ali France Labor 31,396 31.7 +0.4
    Vinnie Batten Greens 12,871 13.0 +3.0
    Tamera Gibson One Nation 5,312 5.4 +0.2
    Alina Karen Ward United Australia 2,717 2.7 +0.5
    Alan Buchbach Independent 2,222 2.2 +2.2
    Thor Prohaska Independent 1,618 1.6 -0.7
    Lloyd Russell Liberal Democrats 1,236 1.2 +1.3
    Informal 3,996 3.9 -0.5

    2022 two-party-preferred result

    Candidate Party Votes % Swing
    Peter Dutton Liberal National 51,196 51.7 -2.9
    Ali France Labor 47,833 48.3 +2.9

    Booth breakdown

    Booths have been divided into three areas. Most of the population lies on the urban fringe along the eastern edge of the seat. These booths have been split between north-east and south-east. The remaining booths have been grouped as ‘west’.

    The Liberal National Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in the south-east (51.1%) and the west (54.7%), as well as on the pre-poll and other votes. Labor won 52.5% in the north-east.

    The Greens came third, with a primary vote ranging from 13.2% in the north-east to 18% in the west, but just 11.7% on the pre-poll.

    Voter group GRN prim LNP 2PP Total votes % of votes
    North-East 13.2 47.5 16,958 17.1
    South-East 15.8 51.1 14,310 14.5
    West 18.0 54.7 4,621 4.7
    Pre-poll 11.7 52.3 38,111 38.5
    Other votes 12.4 53.4 25,029 25.3

    Election results in Dickson at the 2022 federal election
    Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for the Liberal National Party, Labor and the Greens.

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    58 COMMENTS

    1. They may not make the 2 party preferred, but their preference may flow from former liberal voters to labor. I don’t think labor would win, and that the liberals should increase their primary vote, but this could make Dutton more vulnerable.

    2. I should add that people should see Casey 2022 for an example. The liberals still won, but Labor came closer than they otherwise may have.

    3. @darcy Dutton will increase his margin and the next qld redistribution will be favourable towards him in that it will likely trim the southern parts off his seat in exchange for more favourable territory

    4. There were other factors in play in Casey that won’t repeat. It doesn’t matter if you win by 1 vote or 1000 winnings winning.

    5. Dickson in the “nothing ever happens” column while Dutton’s around. (I live here.) What was characteristic swingy mortgage belt 20 years ago is settling down into close-to-retirement homeowners (still a decent bit of mortgage belt too!)

    6. According to most betting agencies the odds of Dutton winning the election have shortened for the coalition. Dutton must be thanking albo for all his help

    7. It is hard to see Peter Dutton losing any LNP voters in Dickson. He is such a known quantity. If they were going to go they would have gone a long time before now. Any minor group will just cannibalise the Labor and Greens votes and provide opportunities for preference leakage to the LNP.

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