Petrie – Election 2010

ALP 4.2%

Incumbent MP
Yvette D’Ath, since 2007.

Geography
Northern Brisbane. Petrie covers suburbs on the northern edge of the City of Brisbane, including Bracken Ridge and parts of Aspley. It also includes parts of Moreton Bay Regional Council, including Redcliffe, Scarborough and Deception Bay.

Redistribution
Petrie shifted north in the redistribution. Petrie lost Chermside West and McDowall to Lilley and gained territory on the northern edge of the seat from Longman, including Deception Bay. This increased the ALP margin from 2.05% to 4.2%.

History
Petrie was created as part of the 1949 expansion of Parliament, and has always been a marginal seat, changing sides on many occasions. The seat has been a bellwether seat since 1987.

The seat was first won by Alan Hulme (Liberal) in 1949. Hulme served as a minister in the Menzies government from 1958 until 1961, when he was defeated by Reginald O’Brien (ALP), and Hulme won the seat back off O’Brien in 1963, before resuming a ministerial role.

O’Brien retired in 1972, and the seat was won by Marhsall Cooke. Cooke was not preselected by the Liberals in 1974, and he retired, with John Hodges winning the seat. Hodges held the seat for the Liberals until the 1983 election, when Dean Wells (ALP) won the seat. Hodges won it back off Wells in 1984, and Wells went on to serve as a minister in Labor state government from 1989 until 2004.

Hodges was finally defeated by the ALP’s Gary Johns in 1987. Johns went on to serve as a minister in the last term of the Keating government, losing his seat to Liberal Teresa Gambaro in 1996.

Gambaro held the seat for eleven years before losing to Yvette D’Ath in 2007.

Candidates

  • Yvette D’Ath (Labor) – Member for Petrie since 2007.
  • Lawrence Addison (Democratic Labor Party)
  • Peter Jeremijenko (Greens)
  • Sally Vincent (Family First)
  • Gabriel Buckley (Liberal Democrats)
  • Dean Teasdale (Liberal National)

Political situation
This seat is the typical marginal seat and will likely swing with the national trend.

2007 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Yvette D’Ath ALP 38,988 46.89 +9.39
Teresa Gambaro LIB 37,299 44.86 -7.41
Terry Jones GRN 3,890 4.68 -0.02
Sally Vincent FF 1,516 1.82 -1.88
Bruce Carnwell DEM 814 0.98 -0.76
Peter Britt CDP 430 0.52 +0.52
Michael Pope LDP 217 0.26 +0.26

2007 two-candidate-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Yvette D’Ath ALP 43,283 52.05 +9.50
Teresa Gambaro LIB 39,871 47.95 -9.50

Booth breakdown
I have divided booths into three areas that are geographically distinct. “North-West” includes those booths previously in Longman, including Deception Bay. “Redcliffe” includes those areas contained in the former City of Redcliffe, including Kippa-Ring, Scarborough and Redcliffe. “South includes those areas in the City of Brisbane, including Bracken Ridge and Aspley.

The ALP won in all three areas, although they polled much better in the two northern areas, polling around 55-56%. They polled under 52% in the southern part of the seat.

Polling booths in Petrie. North-West in green, East in blue, South in yellow.

Voter group GRN % ALP 2CP % Total votes % of ordinary votes
East 4.67 56.07 27,447 42.94
South 3.95 51.95 21,131 33.06
North-West 3.80 55.44 15,335 23.99
Other votes 5.18 51.82 16,286

Polling booths in Petrie, showing results of the 2007 election.