# Division of Capricornia

The Division of Capricornia is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland.
Capricornia is a traditionally a Labor-voting electorate, having been Labor-held for 72 years of the 100 years since 1922. However, Capricornia has recently trended towards the Coalition since 2013. This political realignment was particularly noticeable at the 2019 Australian federal election as blue-collar but highly paid mining workers deserted Labor for Pauline Hanson's One Nation and the Coalition. Similar voting trends can be found in the nearby electorates of Flynn, Dawson, and Leichhardt.
The current MP is Michelle Landry, a member of the National Party.

## Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.
The Division of Capricornia includes the city of Rockhampton, as well as neighbouring towns such as Yeppoon.

## History

The division was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named after the Tropic of Capricorn, which runs through the Division. It is located on the central Queensland coast and its centre has always been the city of Rockhampton. On its current boundaries it also includes the town of Yeppoon and Ooralea, Marian and Sarina, all southern suburbs of Mackay.
The first election saw Alexander Paterson, with 51% of votes, narrowly elected over the ALP candidate Wallace Nelson. For most of its subsequent history it has been a fairly safe seat for the ALP. This was especially true when Gladstone was part of the seat from 1901 to 1984. Even after Gladstone was redistributed to Hinkler in 1984 (it is now part of Flynn), it remained one of the few non-metropolitan seats where Labor consistently did well. Labor held it for all but two terms from 1961 to 2013, the two exceptions being the high-tide elections of 1975 and 1996. Its best-known member was Frank Forde, who was briefly Prime Minister of Australia in 1945.
Capricornia is currently held by Michelle Landry for the Liberal National Party who in 2016, became the first conservative MP to serve more than one term in the seat since George Pearce.

## Members

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| Alexander Paterson (1844–1908) | Independent Free Trade | 30 March 1901 – 23 November 1903 | Retired |
| David Thomson (1856–1926) | Labour | 16 December 1903 – 12 December 1906 | Lost seat |
| Edward Archer (1871–1940) | Anti-Socialist | 12 December 1906 – 26 May 1909 | Was the first MP who chose to make an affirmation rather than swearing an oath. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Normanby in 1914 |
| Edward Archer (1871–1940) | Liberal | 26 May 1909 – 13 April 1910 | Was the first MP who chose to make an affirmation rather than swearing an oath. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Normanby in 1914 |
| William Higgs (1862–1951) | Labor | 13 April 1910 – January 1920 | Previously a member of the Senate. Served as minister under Hughes. Lost seat |
| William Higgs (1862–1951) | Independent | January 1920 – September 1920 | Previously a member of the Senate. Served as minister under Hughes. Lost seat |
| William Higgs (1862–1951) | Nationalist | September 1920 – 16 December 1922 | Previously a member of the Senate. Served as minister under Hughes. Lost seat |
| Frank Forde (1890–1983) | Labor | 16 December 1922 – 28 September 1946 | Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Rockhampton. Served as minister under Scullin, Curtin and Chifley. Served as deputy prime minister under Curtin and Chifley. Served as Prime Minister in 1945. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Flinders in 1955 |
| Charles Davidson (1897–1985) | Country | 28 September 1946 – 10 December 1949 | Transferred to the Division of Dawson |
| George Pearce (1917–1992) | Liberal | 10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961 | Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Menzies. Lost seat |
| George Gray (1903–1967) | Labor | 9 December 1961 – 2 August 1967 | Died in office |
| Doug Everingham (1923–2017) | Labor | 30 September 1967 – 13 December 1975 | Served as minister under Whitlam. Lost seat |
| Colin Carige (1938–2002) | National Country | 13 December 1975 – 10 December 1977 | Lost seat |
| Doug Everingham (1923–2017) | Labor | 10 December 1977 – 26 October 1984 | Retired |
| Keith Wright (1942–2015) | Labor | 26 October 1984 – 1993 | Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Rockhampton. Lost preselection and then lost seat |
| Keith Wright (1942–2015) | Independent | 1993 – 13 March 1993 | Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Rockhampton. Lost preselection and then lost seat |
| Marjorie Henzell (1948–) | Labor | 13 March 1993 – 2 March 1996 | Lost seat |
| Paul Marek (1964–) | Nationals | 2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998 | Lost seat |
| Kirsten Livermore (1969–) | Labor | 3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013 | Retired |
| Michelle Landry (1962–) | National | 7 September 2013 – present | Incumbent |

## Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Capricornia :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal National | Michelle Landry | 35,613 | 39.44 | −1.21 |
| | Labor | Russell Robertson | 25,330 | 28.05 | +4.31 |
| | One Nation | Kylee Stanton | 13,179 | 14.60 | −2.38 |
| | Greens | Mick Jones | 5,302 | 5.87 | +1.03 |
| | United Australia | Nathan Harding | 3,555 | 3.94 | +0.29 |
| | Independent | Ken Murray | 3,048 | 3.38 | +0.89 |
| | Great Australian | Zteven Whitty | 1,747 | 1.93 | +1.93 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Steve Murphy | 1,392 | 1.54 | +1.54 |
| | Informed Medical Options | Paula Ganfield | 1,126 | 1.25 | +1.25 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 90,292 | 93.86 | +0.19 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 5,904 | 6.14 | −0.19 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 96,196 | 88.60 | −3.98 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Liberal National | Michelle Landry | 51,096 | 56.59 | −5.76 |
| | Labor | Russell Robertson | 39,196 | 43.41 | +5.76 |
| | Liberal National hold | Liberal National hold | Swing | −5.76 | |
    Liberal
    Country/National
    United Australia Party