ALP 10.2%
Incumbent MP
Julieanne Gilbert, since 2015.
Geography
North Queensland. Mackay covers the central suburbs of the city of Mackay from Mackay Airport to Slade Point.
Redistribution
Mackay expanded slightly, taking in Glenella, Mount Pleasant, Foulden from Whitsunday. These changes cut the Labor margin from 12.4% to 10.2%.
History
The seat of Mackay has existed continuously since 1878. The seat has been held by Labor MPs, since 1915, although one MP became an independent for a period of five years in the 1970s.
William Forgan Smith held the seat for the ALP from 1915 to 1942. He served as Premier of Queensland from 1932 to 1942. Fred Graham held the seat from 1943 to 1969.
Ed Casey won Labor preselection in 1969. In 1972 he lost preselection, but won re-election as an independent, continuing as an independent until 1977 when he was re-admitted to the ALP caucus.
Casey served as leader of the ALP from 1978 to 1982, and continued to serve as Labor Member for Mackay until his retirement in 1995.
Tim Mulherin won Mackay in 1995. Mulherin held Mackay for seven terms, and served as a minister from 2005 to 2012. Mulherin retired in 2015, and was succeeded by Labor’s Julieanne Gilbert.
Candidates
- Jeff Keioskie (One Nation)
- Martin McCann (Independent)
- Julieanne Gilbert (Labor)
- Elliot Jennings (Greens)
- Nicole Batzloff (Liberal National)
Assessment
Mackay is a safe Labor seat.
2015 election result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Julieanne Gilbert | Labor | 11,346 | 43.8 | +5.3 | 42.7 |
| Deon Attard | Liberal National | 6,680 | 25.8 | -11.1 | 29.2 |
| Julie Boyd | Independent | 5,720 | 22.1 | +22.1 | 17.3 |
| Jonathon Dykyj | Greens | 1,285 | 5.0 | -0.6 | 4.9 |
| Lindsay Temple | Family First | 857 | 3.3 | +3.3 | 2.6 |
| Palmer United Party | 2.7 | ||||
| Others | 0.6 | ||||
| Informal | 653 | 2.5 |
2015 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Julieanne Gilbert | Labor | 13,542 | 62.4 | +11.9 | 60.2 |
| Deon Attard | Liberal National | 8,162 | 37.6 | -11.9 | 39.8 |
| Exhausted | 4,184 | 16.2 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Mackay have been divided into three areas: central, north and south.
The ALP won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 55% in the centre to 64% in the north.
Independent candidate Julie Boyd also polled strongly. Her vote ranged from 11% in the centre to 22% in the south.
| Voter group | IND prim % | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Central | 10.9 | 55.0 | 7,026 | 21.3 |
| South | 21.9 | 61.6 | 6,705 | 20.3 |
| North | 19.8 | 64.1 | 6,547 | 19.8 |
| Other votes | 18.7 | 59.2 | 12,784 | 38.7 |
Election results in Mackay at the 2015 QLD state election
Click on the ‘visible layers’ box to toggle between two-party-preferred votes and independent primary votes.
Labor retain but I expect a big swing to one nation here
LNP has chosen teacher and business owner, Nicole Batzloff to contest this “unwinnable seat”.
She’s probably right though!
ALP retain
The Premier rushed to Mackay on Tuesday, word is One Nation a serious chance to win this on internal Labor polling. I’m predicting a Labor retain but I expect Labor to have one of the biggest fright they’ve ever had in this seat.
I wonder if the ‘rush to Mackay’ was more about Mirani and/or Whitsunday, than the seat of Mackay itself?
Feel The Bern .. If you really have access to “Internal Labor Polling” do you think the party would appreciate your spreading of a doom and gloom message in every remotely close seat? Surely, if you are really a Labor supporter/member you’d be doing the party a favour by ‘zipping the lip’.