Rankin is a seat on the southern edge of Brisbane, covering parts of the City of Brisbane and the City of Logan. The seat has been held by federal minister Craig Emerson since 1998, and he now holds it by 11.7%.
The seat covers the suburbs of Algester, Calamvale, Hillcrest, Regents Park, Heritage Park, Crestmead, Kingston, Chatswood Hills and Springwood.
Fadden is a safe Liberal seat covering the northern parts of the Gold Coast. The seat has almost always been held by the Liberal Party, and was held by David Jull from 1984 until the 2007 election, when he was succeeded by Stuart Robert.
The seat covers suburbs such as Helensvale, Coomera, Arundel, Ashmore, Runaway Bay and Paradise Lakes.
Moncrieff is a safe Liberal seat along the Gold Coast, covering central parts of the city, including Surfers Paradise and Southport. The seat has been held by Steven Ciobo since 2001. The seat should be easily retained by Ciobo in 2010.
The seat includes the suburbs of Miami, Surfers Paradise, Paradise Waters, Broadbeach, Mermaid Beach, Rialto, Carrara, Benowa, Ashmore and Nerang.
McPherson is a Liberal seat covering the southern end of the Gold Coast. It has been held by Liberal MP Margaret May since 1998, but she is retiring in 2010. The seat was home to a fierce preselection battle last year as senior Liberal frontbencher Peter Dutton attempted to move from the marginal north Brisbane seat of Dickson to McPherson, but was defeated by local candidate Karen Andrews. Despite the controversy, the Liberal National Party should easily retain the seat.
Wright is a new electorate created due to Queensland gaining a thirtieth seat in the House of Representatives. Wright covers rural areas to the south and southwest of Brisbane, stretching from the Gold Coast hinterland to close t Toowoomba. The seat has a notional margin of 4.8% for the Liberal Party, although the Liberals lost both Blair and Forde in 2007. Those two seats covered almost all of the territory in the new Wright. The Liberal National Party has preselected former National and Logan City councillor Hajnal Ban.
Bonner is a marginal Labor seat in eastern Brisbane, covering the area from Wynnum on Moreton Bay to Mount Gravatt. The seat was first created in 2004 named after former indigenous Senator Neville Bonner. It is held by Kerry Rea by a 4.5% margin, after she defeated the Liberal Party’s Ross Vasta in 2007. Vasta is running again in 2010 for the Liberal National Party.
Petrie is a seat to the north of Brisbane, including Redcliffe and parts of the City of Brisbane. The seat has been a bellwether seat since 1987, with the ALP winning it off the Coalition in 2007. The seat has a notional margin of 4.2% after the redistribution increased the ALP’s majority by moving the seat further north.
Leichhardt is a bellwether seat covering Cape York and Cairns, and has been won by the party that won government since 1972. The seat was lost by the Liberal Party in 2007 with a 14% swing after sitting member Warren Entsch retired. Entsch has returned to politics in an attempt to win the seat back for the LNP in 2010.
Fisher is a Liberal seat on the Sunshine Coast, centred on Caloundra. It has been held by Peter Slipper for most of the last two decades, and has now become a marginal seat for the first time since the ALP lost it in 1993.
Forde lies in south-eastern Queensland, and was the safest Liberal seat to fall to the ALP in 2007 with a swing of over 14%. The seat has been a bellwether seat since 1987, and contracted substantially in the last redistribution to become a largely urban seat mostly lying in the City of Logan.
