IND 6.1% vs ALP
Incumbent MP
Liz Cunningham, since 1995.
Geography
Central Queensland. Gladstone covers the Gladstone urban area and surrounding rural areas in the Gladstone local government area.
History
The seat of Gladstone has existed since the 1992 election. The seat was held by the ALP for one term but has been held by an independent since 1995.
Neil Bennett won Gladstone for the ALP in 1992. Bennett defeated independent candidate Liz Cunningham, who ran in opposition to the downgrading of Gladstone Hospital.
Cunningham won on a second attempt in 1995. She supported a minority Coalition government from 1996 to 1998. She lost the balance of power when a second hung parliament was elected in 1998.
Cunningham has been re-elected in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009.
Candidates
Sitting independent MP Liz Cunningham is running for re-election. The ALP is running Glenn Butcher. Katter’s Australian Party is running Anthony Beezley.
- Glenn Butcher (Labor)
- Liz Cunningham (Independent)
- Russell Schroter (Liberal National)
- Anthony Beezley (Katter’s Australian Party)
- Andrew Blake (Greens)
Political situation
If Cunningham is running for re-election she should be able to retain her seat, however that is not known.
2009 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Liz Cunningham | IND | 15,255 | 54.6 | +7.2 |
| Peter O’Sullivan | ALP | 11,903 | 42.6 | -3.8 |
| Kirsten Neilson | GRN | 760 | 2.7 | +2.7 |
2009 two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Liz Cunningham | IND | 15,458 | 56.1 | +4.1 |
| Peter O’Sullivan | ALP | 12,084 | 43.9 | -4.1 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Gladstone have been divided into three areas. Booths in the Gladstone urban area have been grouped together, with rural booths divided into south and west.
Cunningham won a majority in all three area, varying from 68% in the west to 50.4% in Gladstone itself. The ALP’s vote varied from just under 30% in the west to 46.9% in Gladstone.
Polling booths in Gladstone at the 2009 state election. Gladstone in green, West in blue, South in orange.
| Voter group | IND % | ALP % | GRN % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Gladstone | 50.4 | 46.9 | 2.7 | 14,392 | 51.6 |
| South | 58.4 | 39.2 | 2.4 | 6,743 | 24.2 |
| West | 68.6 | 29.9 | 1.6 | 894 | 3.2 |
| Other votes | 58.7 | 38.1 | 3.3 | 5,889 | 21.1 |
Primary votes for independent MP Liz Cunningham in Gladstone at the 2009 state election.
Labor primary votes in Gladstone at the 2009 state election.
Primary votes for independent MP Liz Cunningham in the Gladstone urban area at the 2009 state election.
Labor primary votes in the Gladstone urban area at the 2009 state election.
http://www.ausparty.org.au/who-we-are/our-people/profile/47/anthony-beezley
Katter’s Candidate
Anthony Beezley
Labor have selected Glenn Butcher as their candidate – http://www.themorningbulletin.com.au/story/2012/01/11/alp-selects-gladstone-candidate-glenn-butcher/
Are the LNP sitting this one out like they did last time? They don’t have a candidate profile on their website (it’s the only one missing apart from Broadwater).
Most likely Bird of paradox, as long as Cunningham keeps running (assuming she’s running again this time), the LNP won’t bother here.
It has been a privilege to work with the people of this electorate. And just to clarify, I will be standing for the election in 2012.
Regards,
Liz Cunningham
Liz, what have you done about the death of the local fishing industry in Gladstone? Real answers please – not waffle.
Liz, another term of homophobia from you? I suppose you will vote for removing civil unions for same-sex couples?
Liz has been a fantastic member for Gladstone over many years. Ask anyone in the house (on either side of politics) or better yet, ask her constituents.
As to the Gladstone Harbour and local fishing issue, whether you agree with the Government scientists or the evidence coming from the local fishing Industry, the blame for the dredging and Harbour Development does not rest at Liz’s feet – whether she wants it done or not.
It is the ALP that have been pushing the Harbour Development and there is next to nothing a person outside of Government can do to stop it. It will be interesting to see what the LNP do when they form Government.
Good luck Liz. I hope you continue the good work for many years to come.
Tony, I am certainly not knocking Liz. I am a minor party/independent advocate. I was hoping that Liz would tell us what she has been doing for her constituents in this extremely trying time for the local bloke, the man and woman who work their guts out in a close to dead fishing industry. These people, more than most need an active local member. Hopefully Liz is working in their interests.
My prediction: Easy victory for Cunningham
Glenn Butcher may be the beneficiary of the split Katter’s candidate will cause to the conservative vote in Gladstone. Labor generally does rather well here, so as long as those voting for Katter are leaving Labor and not Cunningham, then she should get re-elected. I’m just not sure they are doing that though.
Russell Schroter is running here for the LNP.
There’s actually a source for that: http://www.gladstoneobserver.com.au/story/2012/02/28/lnp-joins-the-race/
They’re actually running a candidate? With the vote the Nats got ever since Cunningham won the seat, they’ll get not much than enough to stuff up her chances of winning again. Between them and KAP, there’s now a faint chance of Labor winning semi-accidentally. Either that, or something flaky like KAP winning.
Predicition: Cunningham should win, although lack of a LNP candidate would make it a certainty.