Sandgate – Queensland 2012

ALP 12.4%

Incumbent MP
Vicky Darling, since 2006.

Geography
Northern edge of the City of Brisbane. Sandgate covers the Brisbane suburbs of Bracken Ridge, Deagon, Shorncliffe, Sandgate, Brighton, Taigum, Fitzgibbon and parts of Bald Hills.

History
 The seat of Sandgate has existed since 1923, and has been held by the ALP continuously since 1960.

Harold Dean won the seat off the Liberal Party in 1960. He held the seat until his retirement in 1977.

Nev Warburton won the seat in 1977. He became Leader of the ALP in 1984, and led the party into the 1986 election. He continued as leader until 1988, when he was replaced by Wayne Goss.

When the ALP won power in 1989, and Warburton served as a minister until he retired in 1992.

Gordon Nuttall won the seat in 1992. He became a minister in the Beattie government in 2001 and served in the ministry until 2005. In 2005, he was investigated for giving a false answer to a Parliamentary committee. He retired in 2006, and resigned from the party shortly before the election, facing the prospect of expulsion.

Nuttall was later convicted of numerous corruption charges in 2009 and 2010, and is serving a seven-year prison sentence.

Vicky Darling has held Sandgate since 2006. She was appointed as Minister for Environment in June 2011 after Kate Jones stepped down to focus on her race against Campbell Newman in Ashgrove.

Candidates
Sitting Labor MP Vicky Darling is running for re-election. The LNP is running Kerry Millard. The Greens are running Claire Ogden.

Political situation
Sandgate is probably safe but could be vulnerable in a good result for the LNP.

2009 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Vicky Darling ALP 14,708 54.0 -2.0
Lenard Gaffel LNP 8,800 32.3 +4.1
Keith Skelton GRN 2,231 8.2 +0.8
Mark Grundy FF 597 2.2 +2.2
Kevin Stiller IND 516 1.9 +1.9
Mike Crook IND 361 1.3 +1.3

2009 two-candidate-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Vicky Darling ALP 15,880 62.4 -2.9
Lenard Gaffel LNP 9,581 37.6 +2.9

Booth breakdown
Booths in Sandgate have been divided into four areas: Sandgate in the east, Brighton in the north, Bracken Ridge in the west, and another collection of booths in the south.

The ALP’s vote peaked at over 55% in the south and Brighton, with the lowest ALP vote being barely 50.2% in Sandgate. The Greens vote peaked with 13% in Sandgate, compared to 6-9% in the other three areas.

Polling booths in Sandgate at the 2009 state election. Sandgate in red, Brighton in red, Bracken Ridge in green, South in yellow.

 

Voter group ALP % LNP % GRN % Total votes % of votes
Bracken Ridge 53.3 35.2 6.5 8,293 30.5
South 55.8 32.0 6.8 4,988 18.3
Brighton 55.5 29.2 8.8 4,425 16.3
Sandgate 50.2 31.3 13.0 3,712 13.6
Other votes 54.9 31.5 8.3 5,795 21.3
Labor primary votes in Sandgate at the 2009 state election.
Liberal National primary votes in Sandgate at the 2009 state election.

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