Electoral district of Gaven
| Gaven Queensland—Legislative Assembly | |
|---|---|
 Gaven (2008—) | |
| State or territory: | Queensland |
| Dates current: | 2001–present |
| MP: | Alex Douglas |
| Party: | Liberal National |
| Namesake: | Gaven Way (a section of the Pacific Motorway) |
The district of Gaven is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It was created out of the former district of and the southern segment of Albert in the 2001 redistribution, and is based around the northern growth corridor of the Gold Coast. The current Member of Parliament is Alex Douglas.
History
Gaven was created as a notionally conservative seat, part of the old South Coast seat held for 14 years by Russ Hinze (commonly known as Sir Joh's "Minister for Everything"), and was contested for the conservative National Party of Australia by the incumbent member for Albert, Bill Baumann, at the 2001 election. However, amidst a statewide landslide victory for the Australian Labor Party, the seat fell to union organiser Robert Poole with a 14.6% swing. The National Party agreed to let their coalition partner, the more urban Liberal Party of Australia contest the seat at the 2004 election, and though they nominated former Gold Coast mayor Ray Stevens, Poole was returned with only a slight swing against him.
Poole became the subject of increasing controversy during his second term, as he spent most of his term out of the state, living with his family in Thailand. This reached its peak in 2006, when Poole revealed that he intended to spend the first half the year in Thailand while he recovered from surgery. A furious Premier Peter Beattie demanded that Poole return or face having his seat formally declared vacant, and Poole reluctantly stepped down in late February.
Facing a highly winnable by-election, the Coalition made the decision to allow the National Party to contest the seat, which bemused some observers, who noted that the party had only polled 2% for the Senate in Gaven's federal booths at the 2004 federal election.
The 2006 state election saw Alex Douglas and Phil Gray once again running against each other, with the Queensland Greens being represented by Glen Ryman. Phil Gray won the seat by an 8% swing, with an absolute majority of primary votes.
The 2009 state election saw Douglas and Gray pitted against each other for the third consecutive time. On this occasion, Douglas, running under the banner of the newly formed Liberal National Party, narrowly emerged as the victor.
Members for Gaven
See also
References
External links
- Electorate Profile (Antony Green, ABC)
- 7 March Beattie announces Gaven by-election
- 9 March ALP candidate confident of Gaven win
- 1 April Labor hasn't given up by-election
- 1 April By-election unwinnable: Beattie
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_district_of_Gaven
