Townsville – Queensland 2012

ALP 4.0%

Incumbent MP
Mandy Johnstone, since 2009.

Geography
Central Townsville. The seat covers the Townsville CBD and the suburbs of Castle Hill, Garbutt, Mount Louisa and Bohle, as well as Magnetic Island and Palm Island.

History
The seat of Townsville has existed continuously since 1970, and previously existed from 1878 to 1960.

The seat has been dominated by the Labor Party for most of the twentieth century, although Labor domination has occasionally been punctuated by Coalition victories.

The ALP had held the seat for all but three years from 1915 to 1960, but after the seat was restored in 1972 it was won by the Liberal Party’s Norman Scott-Young. He held it until 1983.

The 1983 election was triggered by the breakdown in the coalition between Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s National Party and the Liberal Party, and a majority of Liberal MPs lost their seats, including Scott-Young.

Ken McElligott won Townsville for the ALP, but three years later lost to the National Party’s Tony Burreket.

Burreket lost to the ALP’s Ken Davies in 1989. In 1992, Davies moved to the neighbouring seat of Mundingburra. He retained Mundingburra by a bare 16-vote margin. The result was overturned in the courts in 1996. The ALP decided to replace Davies as the ALP candidate, and he ran as an independent. The Liberal Party won the race, and resulted in the ALP losing its parliamentary majority and the National-Liberal coalition forming a new government.

Geoff Smith was elected to Townsville for the ALP in 1992, and held it for two terms until 1998. He was succeeded in 1998 by Mike Reynolds. Reynolds served as a minister from 2004 to 2006 and as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly from 2006 to 2009, when he retired.

Mandy Johnstone was elected to Townsville in 2009 for the ALP.

Candidates
Sitting Labor MP Mandy Johnstone is running for re-election.  The LNP is running John Hathaway. The Greens are running Jenny Stirling. Katter’s Australian Party is running Ray Grigg.

• Ray Grigg (Katter’s Australian Party)
• Mandy Johnstone (Labor)
• Jenny Stirling (Greens)
• John Hathaway (Liberal National)
• Michael Punshon (Family First)

Political situation
Townsville was previously won by the National Party under the last conservative government and with a margin of 4% Townsville is one of the Labor seats that the LNP would be hoping to win if they are to form government.

2009 result

2009 two-candidate-preferred result

Booth breakdown
Booths in Townsville have been divided into four areas. Booths on the mainland have been divided into South, Central and West, while booths on the neighbouring islands have been grouped together.

The ALP polled more than the LNP in all four areas, with the ALP vote ranging from 48.8% in the south to 34% on the islands. The LNP vote varied from 42.9% in the centre of Townsville to 30.4% on the islands.