Holland Park – Brisbane 2016

Council margin – LNP 10.1%
Mayoral margin – LNP 16.9%

Incumbent councillors

• Krista Adams, councillor for Wishart since 2008.
• Ian McKenzie, councillor for Holland Park since 2008.

Geography
Southern Brisbane. Holland Park covers suburbs to the south, and slightly to the west, of the Brisbane city centre, including Holland Park, Tarragindi and Mount Gravatt.

Redistribution
Holland Park ward shifted significantly south, losing Greenslopes and Coorparoo to the new Coorparoo ward and gaining Mount Gravatt East from Wishart. Effectively the new Holland Park is a successor to Wishart, while Coorparoo is replacing Holland Park – which can be seen in the choice of ward for the two sitting councillors.

The LNP council margin in the new ward of Holland Park is 10.1%, compared to 21.4% for Wishart and 11.1% for the old Holland Park. The LNP’s mayoral margin in the new ward is 14.8%, compared to 22.8% for Wishart and 16.2% for the old Holland Park.

History – Holland Park
Holland Park was won in 1997 by Labor candidate Kerry Rea. Rea had previously held Ekibin ward from 1991 to 1994. She held Holland Park until she resigned in 2007 and ran for the federal seat of Bonner which she won. Rea held Bonner for one term before losing in 2010.

After Rea’s resignation, the LNP’s Ian McKenzie won Holland Park with an 8.6% swing. McKenzie was re-elected in 2012 with a further 5.5% swing.

History – Wishart
Graham Quirk was first elected to Brisbane City Council in 1985 representing Rochedale ward. It’s not entirely clear what wards he represented throughout the 1990s, but by 2000 he was representing Wishart. Quirk had served as deputy opposition leader, opposition leader and then deputy Liberal leader to Campbell Newman when Newman was elected Lord Mayor.

In 2004 Quirk increased his majority to over 15%, but the 2008 redistribution cut the LNP margin to 5%, so Quirk moved to Macgregor ward. He was re-elected in Macgregor in 2008, became deputy mayor as leader of the new LNP majority, and in 2012 was elected as Lord Mayor to replace Campbell Newman.

Despite Quirk’s concerns about the redistribution, new Liberal candidate Krista Adams won Wishart in 2008 with an 8% swing, and she was re-elected in 2012 with a further 8% swing.

Candidates

• Adam Obeid (Labor)
• Krista Adams (Liberal National)
• Karen Anderson (Greens)

Assessment
These areas were previously considered marginal, prior to swings of 14-16% over the last two elections. As the third most marginal LNP ward, Labor will be hoping to gain Holland Park.

2012 council result – Wishart

2012 council two-party-preferred result – Wishart

2012 mayoral result – Wishart

2012 mayoral two-party-preferred result – Wishart

2012 council result – Holland Park

2012 council two-party-preferred result – Holland Park

2012 mayoral result – Holland Park

2012 mayoral two-party-preferred result – Holland Park

Booth breakdown
Booths in Holland Park have been split into three parts: central, east and west.

On a two-party-preferred basis for the council election, the Liberal National Party won 66.5% in the east and 60% in the centre. In the west, Labor won 55.3%, with most of those votes coming from voters who were in the Labor ward of Moorooka in 2012.

In the mayoral election, the LNP managed over 65% in the west, similar to the mayoral vote in the rest of the ward.