ALP 7.8%
Incumbent MP
Meaghan Scanlon, since 2017.
Geography
South-East Queensland. Gaven covers inland parts of the Gold Coast, including Pacific Pines, Gaven, Nerang, Highland Park and parts of Carrara.
The seat of Gaven was created at the 2001 election. It was created as a notionally Liberal seat, but was won in 2001 by the ALP. The seat has since alternated between Labor and the LNP.
Gaven largely replaced the seat of Nerang in 2001. Nerang had been held by the National Party from 1986 to 1989.
Nerang was held from 1989 to 2001 by Liberal MP Ray Connor, who briefly served as a minister from 1996 to 1997. When Nerang was abolished Connor unsuccessfully contested the new seat of Mudgeeraba.
Gaven was won in 2001 by Robert Poole of the ALP. Poole was re-elected in 2004.
Poole’s wife and children lived in Thailand, and he was criticised for extended periods he spent overseas. In early 2006 it was revealed that he planned to spend a number of months in Thailand. Peter Beattie demanded that Poole return and threatened the possibility of Poole’s seat being declared vacant. Poole subsequently resigned from Parliament in early 2006.
The 2006 by-election was won by the National Party’s Alex Douglas, defeating the ALP’s Phil Gray.
Less than six months later, Douglas lost to Gray at the general election. Gray held the seat for one term, and in 2009 lost to Douglas, now running for the Liberal National Party.
Douglas was re-elected as the LNP candidate in 2012.
Alex Douglas resigned from the LNP in late 2012, to sit as an independent. He joined the newly formed Palmer United Party in 2013 as the party’s Queensland state leader. He resigned from PUP in August 2014 to again sit as an independent, and lost his seat in 2015.
The LNP’s Sid Cramp defeated Douglas in 2015. Cramp held Gaven for one term, losing in 2017 to Labor’s Meaghan Scanlon. Scanlon was re-elected in 2020.
- Bianca Stone (Liberal National)
- Sally Spain (Greens)
- Ian Reid (Family First)
- Sandy Roach (One Nation)
- Meaghan Scanlon (Labor)
- Jenelle Porter (Legalise Cannabis)
Assessment
Gaven is a reasonably safe Labor seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Meaghan Scanlon | Labor | 12,932 | 47.5 | +4.4 |
| Kirsten Jackson | Liberal National | 9,021 | 33.1 | -13.0 |
| Sharon Sewell | One Nation | 2,239 | 8.2 | +8.2 |
| Sally Spain | Greens | 1,503 | 5.5 | -5.3 |
| Suzette Luyken | Legalise Cannabis | 1,065 | 3.9 | +3.9 |
| Garry Beck | United Australia | 292 | 1.1 | +1.1 |
| Reyna Drake | Civil Liberties & Motorists | 192 | 0.7 | +0.7 |
| Informal | 1,419 | 5.0 |
2020 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Meaghan Scanlon | Labor | 15,734 | 57.8 | +7.0 |
| Kirsten Jackson | Liberal National | 11,510 | 42.2 | -7.0 |
Booths in Gaven have been divided into three areas: central, north and south.
Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, with 54.6% in the south and over 62% in the centre and north.
| Voter group | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| South | 54.6 | 3,155 | 11.6 |
| Central | 62.3 | 2,519 | 9.2 |
| North | 62.6 | 1,633 | 6.0 |
| Pre-poll | 57.3 | 11,707 | 43.0 |
| Other votes | 57.3 | 8,230 | 30.2 |
Election results in Gaven at the 2020 Queensland state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor and the Liberal National Party.
@aa exactly because of the state of qlds parliament without a upper house any bill would easily be overturned by labor and it would do nothing but ensure the lnp are a one term government so it would be pointless in changing the law