Sunnybank – Queensland 2015

LIB 10.23%

Incumbent MP
Mark Stewart, since 2012.

Geography
Brisbane. Sunnybank covers southern parts of the City of Brisbane, specifically the suburbs of Sunnybank, Acacia Ridge, Coopers Plains and Robertson, and parts of Macgregor, Eight Mile Plains, Runcorn and Sunnybank Hills.

History
The seat of Sunnybank first existed from 1992 to 2001, and was restored at the 2009 election.

The seat was won in 1992 by the ALP’s Stephen Robertson. In 2001 he moved to the new seat of Stretton. He has served as a minister since 1999.

The ALP’s Judy Spence won the seat of Mount Gravatt in 1989. She defeated the former National Party MP. Spence became a minister in the Labor government in 1998, serving in the ministry until the 2009 election.

In 2009, Mount Gravatt was abolished and Spence won the new seat of Sunnybank.

Specne retired in 2012, and Labor candidate Meg Bishop was defeated by LNP candidate Mark Stewart.

Candidates

Assessment
Sunnybank previously leaned towards the LNP – the seat was considered to have a notional Labor margin of 65.2% before the 2009 election, and was then retained by Labor by a 60.8% margin. If there is a significant swing back to Labor, the party will be relying on a good result in Sunnybank.

2012 election result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Mark Stewart Liberal National 13,578 52.70 +17.27
Meg Bishop Labor 8,434 32.73 -21.77
Gordon King Greens 2,463 9.56 +1.61
Matt Darragh Family First 1,291 5.01 +5.01

2012 two-party-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Mark Stewart Liberal National 14,441 60.23 +21.02
Meg Bishop Labor 9,535 39.77 -21.02
Polling places in Sunnybank at the 2012 Queensland state election. North East in blue, South East in orange, West in green. Click to enlarge.
Polling places in Sunnybank at the 2012 Queensland state election. North East in blue, South East in orange, West in green. Click to enlarge.

Booth breakdown
Booths in Sunnybank have been divided into three parts: north-east, south-east and west.

The LNP topped the poll in the south-east and north east, winning a majority of the primary vote, and about 63% of the two-party-preferred vote. Labor won a plurality of the vote in the west, with 43.5% of the primary vote and approximately 51.4% of the two-party-preferred.

The Electoral Commission does not publish two-party-preferred figures by polling place, so two-party-preferred figures in the following table and map are estimates.

Voter group LNP prim % ALP prim % GRN prim % LNP 2PP % Total % of votes
South East 54.90 30.89 9.62 62.35 8,740 33.92
North East 56.07 30.66 8.94 63.07 6,513 25.28
West 41.73 43.47 9.37 48.61 3,609 14.01
Other votes 52.46 31.40 10.17 60.93 6,904 26.80
Estimated two-party-preferred votes in Sunnybank at the 2012 Queensland state election.
Estimated two-party-preferred votes in Sunnybank at the 2012 Queensland state election.
Greens primary votes in Sunnybank at the 2012 Queensland state election.
Greens primary votes in Sunnybank at the 2012 Queensland state election.

16 COMMENTS

  2. Just as a reminder, Spence retired in 2012, Meg Bishop was defeated by the LNP. With Russo’s high profile and Labor’s determination to win seats like Sunnybank back, I’d expect a 12%+ swing here to Labor.

  3. Russo is very well known and regarded in Queensland’s legal community. He’s the kind of quality candidate that Newman’s overreach in legal and judicial affairs has produced. I’d guess an above average swing to Labor here for a narrow win.

  4. Agree with PJ. Will be a tight contest, but Russo is the type of quality candidate who can pull off the swing required.

  5. I have lived in the Sunnybank area since 1969 hand have never heard of Peter Russo, so where does the “High-Profile” come from? Does he live in the electorate? His website says that he was the solicitor who represented Khaled Daoed, the person charged with people smuggling offences resulting out of the ill-fated SIEVX vessel’s journey to Australia. Where does he stand on the VLAD Laws? Has he represented Bikies in the past?

  7. I have send a question to his campaign email address asking if he lives in the electorate, they refuse to answer. What have they got to hide.

  8. Does Peter Russo represent the Criminal Motorcycle Gangs? Why does his campaign refuse to answer these questions?

  10. Not a Member of any party, just seeking the truth, does Peter Russo represent Criminal Motorcycle Gang Members in his Criminal Law practice? Is the answer so difficult? The Federal Labor Member for the area said that his Liberal Opponent in the last Federal election did PR work for Bikie gangs and won on that tactic, so now why is the question one that the Labor Party is avoiding?

  11. Perhaps the truth is too shameful to reveal? How will we know unless the Candidate answers a legitimate question? Why is he also trying to hide that he doesn’t live in the electorate?

  12. Peter Russo’s website says he represents People Smugglers, why would he refuse work from Motorcycle Gangs or Drug Dealers after all this is legitimate work for a Criminal Defence Solicitor. Their money is as good as anybody’s no matter where it came from. Its ALP stated policy to overturn the VLAD (Bikie) Laws so I don’t see any problem in Peter Russo accepting work from Criminal Bikies, or Drug Dealers for that matter.

  13. Still no answers from the ALP Campaign, but what can you expect when the ALP Leaders does not even know what the rate of the GST is? Once again does Peter Russo live in the electorate??

  14. I don’t know mate but I don’t trust many lawyers – regardless of who they defend. Russo know different. Many of them are just in it for themselves and the money. The LNP would know about that quite well, plenty of lawyers in their ranks.

  16. I agree with you Rudd Man, Lawyers they are like wind up toys programmed with their clients script, pay them enough and they will say and do whatever you want. Born Party Politicians really.

Comments are closed.