Electoral district of Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. Located in the central portion of the Gold Coast, it is named for Surfers Paradise, the largest suburb of the Gold Coast.^[1]

Surfers Paradise Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Electoral map of Surfers Paradise 2017
State	Queensland
MP	John-Paul Langbroek
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Surfers Paradise
Electors	35,065 (2020)
Area	24 km2 (9.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner-metropolitan
Coordinates	27°59′S 153°24′E
Electorates around Surfers Paradise: Bonney Broadwater Coral Sea Southport Surfers Paradise Coral Sea Gaven Mudgeeraba Mermaid Beach Coral Sea

Electoral map of Surfers Paradise 2008

While the Gold Coast has historically tilted conservative, Surfers Paradise has historically been a particularly conservative seat even by Gold Coast standards. It is one of the few areas of the Gold Coast where Labor has never been competitive at the state level. It was originally a National seat for all but one term from its creation in 1972 to 2001, with its best-known member being Rob Borbidge, the last National Premier of Queensland.^{[citation needed]}

This tradition was broken after Borbidge resigned in the wake of the Coalition's massive defeat in the 2001 state election. Due to voter anger at having to go back to the polls for the second time in three months, the Nationals' primary vote plummeted to eight percent, allowing the former mayor of the Gold Coast, Lex Bell, to win as an independent. The seat reverted to form at the 2004 state election, in which Bell was defeated by Liberal John-Paul Langbroek on a large swing.^{[citation needed]}

Since then, the seat has been one of the safest seats in Queensland for the Liberals and the merged Liberal National Party of Queensland, and has often been the safest LNP seat in the state. It is presently the LNP's fifth-safest seat, with Labor needing a 16.6 percent swing to win it. As a measure of how conservative this seat is, Langbroek suffered a swing of 10 percent against him in 2015, but still retained it with a comfortable majority of 19.2 percent. Langbroek served as opposition leader from 3 April 2009 - 22 March 2011^[2] — the first member from the Liberal side of the merger to hold the post.^{[citation needed]}

The seat is almost entirely within the equally conservative federal seat of Moncrieff.^{[citation needed]}

Members for Surfers Paradise

Member		Party	Term
	(Sir) Bruce Small	Country	1972–1974
		National	1974–1977
	Bruce Bishop	Liberal	1977–1980
	Rob Borbidge	National	1980–2001
	Lex Bell	Independent	2001–2004
	John-Paul Langbroek	Liberal	2004–2008
		Liberal National	2008–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Surfers Paradise

2020 Queensland state election: Surfers Paradise^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	John-Paul Langbroek	16,470	57.73	−5.50
	Labor	Brianna Bailey	7,265	25.47	+3.06
	Greens	Nelson Quinn	2,324	8.15	−0.96
	One Nation	Leeanne Schultz	1,785	6.26	+6.26
	United Australia	Roger McKay	684	2.40	+2.40
Total formal votes			28,528	96.51	+2.06
Informal votes			1,031	3.49	−2.06
Turnout			29,559	84.30	+3.34
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	John-Paul Langbroek	18,890	66.22	−3.57
	Labor	Brianna Bailey	9,638	33.78	+3.57
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−3.57

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2020 Queensland state election § Surfers Paradise.[edit]

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. "Mr John-Paul Langbroek". Members. Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
3. 2020 State General Election – Surfers Paradise – District Summary, ECQ.

External links

• Green, Antony. "Electorate Profile". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.