McPherson – Australia 2016

LNP 13.0%

Incumbent MP
Karen Andrews, since 2010.

Geography
Southern end of the Gold Coast. McPherson covers the Gold Coast’s border with New South Wales and stretches up the coast to Burleigh Heads and covers inland Gold Coast as far north as Clear Island Waters and Merrimac.

History
McPherson was created as part of the expansion of the House of Representatives in 1949, and it has always been held by Coalition parties: by the Country Party until 1972 and by the Liberal Party from 1972 until the Liberal National Party merger in recent years.

The seat was first won in 1949 by Country Party leader Arthur Fadden, who became Treasurer in the post-war Menzies government. Fadden had briefly served as Prime Minister during the Second World War and had previously held Darling Downs since 1936.

Fadden held the seat until his retirement in 1958, when he was replaced by the Country Party’s Charles Barnes. Barnes served as a minister from 1963 until just before the 1972 election, and retired at that election.

At the 1972 election the seat of McPherson was lost by the Country Party to Liberal candidate Eric Robinson. Robinson served as a junior minister in the first term of the Fraser government and was appointed Finance Minister in 1977. He briefly stood down in 1979 due to a dispute with Malcolm Fraser, and was dropped from the ministry after the 1980 election. He died suddenly in January 1981.

The 1981 by-election was won by state Liberal MP Peter White, who defeated National Country Party senator Glen Sheil. White held McPherson at the 1983, 1984 and 1987 elections, and retired in 1990.

McPherson was won in 1990 by the Liberal Party’s John Bradford. Bradford held the seat until 1998. In April 1998 he resigned from the Liberal Party and joined the Christian Democratic Party. He contested the Senate in Queensland in 1998 for the CDP but was not elected.

McPherson was won in 1998 by Margaret May, who held the seat for the next four terms. May briefly served as a shadow minister under Brendan Nelson and Malcolm Turnbull but then returned to the backbench and retired in 2010.

At the 2010 election, the LNP’s Karen Andrews won the seat with a 1.6% swing towards her, and she was re-elected in 2013 with a further 2.7% swing.

Candidates

• Karen Andrews (Liberal National)
• Peter Burgoyne (Greens)
• Simon Green (Family First)
• Sandy Gadd (Labor)
• Rob Jones (Independent)

Assessment
McPherson is a safe LNP seat.

2013 result

2013 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown

Booths have been divided into three areas:

• North-East – Burleigh, Varsity Lakes.
• North-West – Mudgeeraba, Reedy Creek, Robina.
• South – Coolangatta, Currumbin, Elanora, Palm Beach, Tallebudgera.

The Liberal National Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 58.5% in the south to 67.2% in the north-west.

The Palmer United Party came third, with a vote ranging from 16% in the north-west to 17.2% in the south.

Election results in McPherson at the 2013 federal election
Click on the ‘visible layers’ box to toggle between two-party-preferred votes and Palmer United Party primary votes.