Bowman – Election 2010

LIB 0.00%

Incumbent MP
Andrew Laming, since 2004.

Geography
Bowman covers the entire territory of Redland LGA, to the east of Brisbane. The seat covers Stradbroke Island and other islands at the southern end of Moreton Bay as well as suburbs such as Capalaba, Cleveland, Alexandra Hills, Birkdale, Victoria Point and Redland Bay.

Redistribution
Prior to the redistribuiton, Bowman covered all of Redland LGA and a small part of Logan LGA, covering the suburbs of Carbrook and Cornubia. These suburbs were more Liberal-voting, which has reduced the margin from 0.04% to an effective tie.

History
Bowman was created in 1949 and has been a typical marginal seat, swinging back and forth between Labor and Liberal. The seat was held by the Liberal Party for all but two terms of the 1949-1972 Coalition government. The seat was won by the ALP in 1961 before returning to the Coalition in 1963. Leonard Keogh won the seat for the ALP in 1969, and held on to the seat for the entirety of the Whitlam government. Bowman was a bellwether seat for over two decades from 1972 to 1998.

David Jull won the seat for the Liberals in 1975, and held the seat until 1983, when Keogh won the seat back after contesting it in 1977 and 1980. Jull returned to Parliament in nearby Fadden in 1984 and served briefly as a Minister in the Howard government.

Keogh was challenged for preselection in 1987 by Con Sciacca, who went on to serve as a parliamentary secretary and junior minister from 1990 to 1996, when he lost his seat to Andrea West before winning it back in 1998. Sciacca returned to the Labor frontbench and survived a close race in 2001 when Andrew Laming reduced his margin to 1.4%. In 2004, the Queensland redistribution saw some of Labor’s best parts of Bowman transferred to the new seat of Bonner, and Sciacca ran in Bonner, where he was defeated by the Liberal candidate.

Laming won Bowman in 2004 off a 6% swing, and he held the seat with a comfortable 9.1% margin. In 2007, another redistribution improved the position for the ALP slightly, and an 8.9% swing almost defeated Laming, eventually winning the seat by 64 votes.

Candidates

  • Andrew Laming (Liberal National) – Member for Bowman since 2004.
  • David Keogh (Greens)
  • Jenny Peters (Labor)
  • Dave Chidgey (One Nation)
  • Karina Windolf (Family First)
  • John Kent (Democratic Labor Party)

Political situation
Bowman is now the most marginal seat in the country and will see a fierce competition for the seat at the next federal election.

2007 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Andrew Laming LIB 42,731 46.16 -4.27
Jason Young ALP 37,565 44.11 +8.37
Brad Scott GRN 5,806 5.45 +0.67
Alan Lucas FF 3,102 2.93 -1.03
Paul Holland DEM 1,064 0.82 -0.25
Dave Chidgey ON 327 0.53 +0.53
NAT 0 0.00 -4.03

2007 two-candidate-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Andrew Laming LIB 41,073 50.04 -8.86
Jason Young ALP 41,009 49.96 +8.86

Results do not take into consideration effects of the redistribution.

Booth breakdown
I divided the booths in Bowman into four areas. I grouped together those booths on Stradbroke Island and other islands in the electorate, and then divided booths on the mainland into three areas:

  • Central – Cleveland, Ormiston, Thornlands
  • North – Alexandra Hills, Birkdale, Capalaba, Thorneside, Wellington Point
  • South – Mount Cotton, Redland Bay, Victoria Point.

Polling booths in Bowman

Polling booths in Bowman

Voter group GRN % LIB 2CP % Total votes % of ordinary votes
North 5.57 45.75 32,715 48.78
Central 5.10 56.00 15,595 23.26
South 5.04 54.50 14,868 22.17
Islands 8.32 40.62 3,882 5.79
Other votes 5.27 47.67 14,289
Polling booths in Bowman

Polling booths in Bowman

Polling booths in the northern mainland area in Bowman

Polling booths in the northern mainland area in Bowman

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