LNP 10.8%
Incumbent MP
Stephen Bennett, since 2012.
Geography
Central Queensland. The seat covers coastal areas surrounding the city of Bundaberg, although not including the urban centre of Bundaberg. It covers Childers, Booyal, Elliott Heads, Bargara, Rosedale, Lowmead, Bucca and Miriam Vale.
History
The seat of Burnett has existed continuously since 1960. In that time, the seat has been won by the National Party (in its various forms) at all but one election.
Doug Slack won the seat for the National Party in 1986. Slack served as a minister from 1996 to 1998, and held the seat until 2001.
In 2001, Slack was defeated by the ALP’s Trevor Strong.
In 2004, Strong was defeated by National Party candidate Rob Messenger.
Messenger won re-election in 2006 as a National and in 2009 for the Liberal National Party.
In 2010, Messenger, along with fellow MP Aidan McLindon, resigned from the Liberal National Party after a failed coup against the party’s deputy leader, Lawrence Springborg.
Messenger lost his seat in 2012 to LNP candidate Stephen Bennett. Messenger then went on to join the Palmer United Party and ran for Hinkler at the 2013 federal election. He later served as chief of staff to Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, and was expelled from PUP in November 2014.
Bennett has been re-elected three times.
- Kerri Morgan (Labor)
- Arno Blank (One Nation)
- Malcolm Parry (Legalise Cannabis)
- Esther Vale (Greens)
- Stephen Bennett (Liberal National)
- Paul Hudson (Independent)
Assessment
Burnett is a safe LNP seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Stephen Bennett | Liberal National | 15,330 | 48.6 | +6.2 |
| Kerri Morgan | Labor | 9,686 | 30.7 | +5.4 |
| Geoffrey Mansell | One Nation | 2,832 | 9.0 | -17.7 |
| Liam Johns | Greens | 1,436 | 4.6 | -1.0 |
| Paul Hudson | Katter’s Australian Party | 1,336 | 4.2 | +4.2 |
| Elizabeth Case | Informed Medical Options | 682 | 2.2 | +2.2 |
| Ric Glass | Independent | 235 | 0.7 | +0.8 |
| Informal | 1,311 | 4.0 |
2020 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Stephen Bennett | Liberal National | 19,172 | 60.8 | +0.1 |
| Kerri Morgan | Labor | 12,365 | 39.2 | -0.1 |
Booths in Burnett have been divided into four areas. Polling places in the areas surrounding Bundaberg have been grouped together, with the remainder split into central, north and south.
The LNP won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all four areas, ranging from 58.7% in the centre to 63.7% in the areas around Bundaberg.
| Voter group | LNP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Central | 58.7 | 3,957 | 12.4 |
| Bundaberg Surrounds | 63.7 | 1,613 | 5.1 |
| South | 61.9 | 1,286 | 4.0 |
| North | 61.7 | 1,202 | 3.8 |
| Pre-poll | 60.1 | 15,731 | 49.5 |
| Other votes | 62.8 | 8,010 | 25.2 |
Election results in Burnett at the 2020 Queensland state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for the Liberal National Party and Labor.
Can’t see anything other than a very safe LNP retain. Would Bennett be in contention for Speaker?
He’s been a good local Member but I doubt he’ll be a Minister.
He supported Frecklington yet got demoted down to a more junior shadow ministry by her. Then Crisafulli dropped him completely. While he has good local profile, the above says everything you need to know about how his colleagues view him. No chance of Speaker, will be lucky to get a committee chair or deputy speaker spot.