Council margin – ALP 5.4%
Mayoral margin – ALP 0.4%
Incumbent councillor
Charles Strunk, since 2016.
Geography
South-western Brisbane. Forest Lake covers the suburbs of Richlands, Doolandella and Inala, on the southern edge of Brisbane City.
Redistribution
The northern boundary of Forest Lake shifted north to Ipswich Road, taking in parts of Jamboree and Moorooka. The western boundary retracted to the Centenary Highway, with the remaining area moved to Jamboree. These changes increased the Labor margin from 5.3% to 5.4%.
History
Forest Lake replaced Richlands ward in 2016. Richlands had been traditionally considered to be a safe Labor ward. Labor’s Les Bryant was elected in the area as councillor for Inala in 1991.
A redistribution in 1994 replaced Inala with Richlands, and Bryant shifted to that ward. He was re-elected in 1997, 2000 and 2004.
In 2004, Bryant’s margin was 15.8%. The 2008 redistribution expanded the Labor margin to 18.9%.
Bryant retired before the 2008 election, and was succeeded by Milton Dick, who held on despite a 14.9% swing to the LNP.
Dick was re-elected in 2012, winning a 13.7% swing while Labor was losing ground across the city, and has served as leader of the opposition on the council since 2012.
Dick retired in 2016, and the renamed Forest Lake ward was won by Labor’s Charles Strunk, despite a swing of over 12% to the LNP.
Candidates
Assessment
Forest Lake is a marginal Labor ward, but Strunk would be hoping to strengthen his hold after a term in office. This ward has tended to swing backwards and forwards over the last few elections but Labor would be hoping any shift would favour them.
2016 council result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Charles Strunk | Labor | 11,533 | 49.1 | -4.9 | 49.2 |
| Leanne McFarlane | Liberal National | 9,560 | 40.7 | -5.3 | 40.7 |
| Jenny Mulkearns | Greens | 2,386 | 10.2 | +10.2 | 10.1 |
| Informal | 962 | 3.9 |
2016 council two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Charles Strunk | Labor | 12,235 | 55.3 | -12.4 | 55.4 |
| Leanne McFarlane | Liberal National | 9,886 | 44.7 | +12.4 | 44.6 |
| Exhausted | 1,358 | 5.8 |
2016 mayoral result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Graham Quirk | Liberal National | 10,296 | 43.8 | -7.9 | 43.6 |
| Rod Harding | Labor | 10,177 | 43.3 | +5.1 | 43.4 |
| Ben Pennings | Greens | 1,467 | 6.2 | -0.3 | 6.2 |
| Jeffrey Hodges | Independent | 946 | 4.0 | +4.0 | 4.0 |
| Karel Boele | People Decide | 254 | 1.1 | +1.1 | 1.1 |
| Jarrod Wirth | Independent | 197 | 0.8 | +0.8 | 0.9 |
| Jim Eldridge | Independent | 190 | 0.8 | +0.8 | 0.8 |
| Informal | 944 | 3.9 |
2016 mayoral two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Rod Harding | Labor | 10,920 | 50.3 | +4.1 | 50.4 |
| Graham Quirk | Liberal National | 10,809 | 49.7 | -4.1 | 49.7 |
| Exhausted | 1,798 | 7.6 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Forest Lake have been divided into three parts: central, north and south.
Labor won solid majorities in the centre and north, polling 56-58% of the mayoral two-party-preferred vote and 62-64% of the council two-party-preferred vote.
The LNP won smaller majorities in the more populous south of the ward, with 51.6% of the council vote and 54.6% of the mayoral vote.
The Greens primary vote ranged from 8.6% in the centre to just over 10% in the other two areas.
| Voter group | GRN council prim | ALP council 2PP | ALP mayoral 2PP | Total votes | % of votes |
| South | 10.3 | 48.4 | 45.4 | 8,719 | 38.9 |
| Central | 8.6 | 63.6 | 57.5 | 5,007 | 22.3 |
| North | 10.5 | 62.7 | 56.1 | 3,448 | 15.4 |
| Other votes | 12.8 | 54.0 | 48.6 | 3,174 | 14.1 |
| Pre-poll | 8.5 | 54.3 | 47.8 | 2,094 | 9.3 |
Election results in Forest Lake at the 2016 Brisbane City Council election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes for council and lord mayor, and Greens primary votes for council.
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