Currumbin by-election, 2020

Cause of by-election
Long-term Liberal National MP Jann Stuckey announced her retirement in January 2020.

MarginLNP 3.3%

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 sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Jann Stuckey was re-elected at the next five elections before retiring in early 2020.

Candidates

Assessment
This seat is very marginal for the LNP. The circumstances of the sitting MP’s departure can’t help the LNP’s campaign to hold on here, creating a real possibility for the Labor government to increase their majority.

2017 election result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Jann Stuckey Liberal National 13,215 47.7 +1.8
Georgi Leader Labor 9,874 35.6 +5.9
David Wyatt Greens 3,249 11.7 +0.4
Andrew Semple Independent 1,375 5.0 +5.0
Informal 1,352 4.7

2017 two-party-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Jann Stuckey Liberal National 14,775 53.3 -2.4
Georgi Leader Labor 12,938 46.7 +2.4

Booth breakdown

Booths in Currumbin have been divided into three areas: central, east and west.

The LNP won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 50.2% in the east to 54.3% in the west.

The Greens came third, with a vote ranging from 11.6% in the centre to 13.8% in the west.

Voter group GRN prim % LNP 2PP % Total votes % of votes
Central 11.6 51.3 9,319 33.6
East 13.3 50.2 4,905 17.7
West 13.8 54.3 2,653 9.6
Other votes 12.5 57.6 4,061 14.7
Pre-poll 9.5 55.4 6,775 24.4

Election results in Currumbin at the 2017 QLD state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and Greens primary votes.