Electoral district of Nundah

Nundah was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland from 1888 to 1992.^[1]

Nundah Queensland—Legislative Assembly
State	Queensland
Created	1888
Abolished	1992
Namesake	Nundah, Queensland

The district was based in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. At the time of its abolition it included the suburbs of Nundah, Eagle Farm, Hendra and Toombul.

History

In the 1904 Queensland state election, the sitting Ministerialist Thomas Bridges faced a formidable opponent in the person of Sir Arthur Rutledge. Rutledge had been a Wesleyan minister in New England and solicitor in Brisbane, before entering the Queensland parliament, where he rose to the office of Attorney-General and accepted a knighthood in 1903. As part of his strategy to become Premier, Rutledge decided to not to recontest his seat of Maranoa but rather contest an electorate closer to Brisbane, and chose the semi-rural seat of Nundah which, he assumed, would be easily won by a man of his political experience, especially as it was already held by a fellow Ministerialist. Many large business houses backed Rutledge, as did the editor of the Brisbane Courier (Rutledge's son-in-law Charles Brunsdon Fletcher was the editor of the Brisbane Courier until 1903).^[2] His public meetings were packed with prominent religious and political leaders, in contrast to a low-key campaign run by Bridges based on his community service and commitment to keep the cost of railway tickets low. Contrary to every prediction, Bridges won the election by 253 votes. This humiliating loss ended Rutledge's political career, and he accepted an appointment as district judge.^[3][4]

Members for Nundah

Member		Party	Term
	George Agnew	Conservative	1888–1890
		Ministerial	1890–1896
	Thomas Bridges	Ministerial	1896–1903
		Liberal	1903–1907
		Kidstonites	1907
	Richard Sumner	Kidstonites	1907–1909
		Independent Opposition	1909
	Thomas Bridges	Liberal	1909–1916
		National	1916–1918
	Hubert Sizer	National	1918–1923
	William Kelso	United Party	1923–1925
		Country and Progressive National	1925–1932
	John Hayes	Labor	1932–1947
	Frank Roberts	Labor	1947–1953
		Independent	1953–1956
	Jim Hadley	Labor	1956–1957
		Queensland Labor	1957–1957
	William Knox	Liberal	1957–1989
	Phil Heath	Labor	1989–1991
	Terry Sullivan	Labor	1991–1992

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Nundah

See also

• Electoral districts of Queensland
• Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by year
• Category:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by name

References

1. "Representatives of Queensland State Electorates 1860-2017" (PDF). Queensland Parliamentary Record 2012-2017: The 55th Parliament. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2020.
2. "Courier Mail Brisbane Newspaper History". Brisbane History. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2015.
3. Outridge, Margaret, ed. (1989), 150 years : Nundah families, 1838–1988, Nundah Historic Cemetery Preservation Association, ISBN 978-0-7316-6048-3
4. "OFFICIAL DECLARATION AT NUNDAH". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 31 August 1904. p. 5. Retrieved 23 April 2015.