2001 Queensland state election

The 2001 Queensland state election was held on 17 February 2001 to elect the 89 members of the state's Legislative Assembly. The result of the election was the return of the Labor Party (ALP) government of Premier Peter Beattie, with an increased majority in a landslide. Labor won 66 seats, easily the most it has ever won in Queensland and one of Labor's best-ever results nationwide. There was a 10.07% swing towards Labor, while One Nation suffered a 13.98% swing against it, losing eight seats (five of which were held by the newly formed City Country Alliance after an internal split in December 1999).

2001 Queensland state election

← 1998 17 February 2001 2004 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 89 seats in the Legislative Assembly 45 seats are needed for a majority
Registered	2,276,044 7.56%
Turnout	2,107,410 (92.59%) (0.26pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Peter Beattie Rob Borbidge David Watson Party Labor National Liberal Leader since 19 February 1996 10 December 1991 23 June 1998 Leader's seat Brisbane Central Surfers Paradise Moggill Last election 44 seats, 38.86% 23 seats, 15.17% 9 seats, 16.09% Seats won 66 12 3 Seat change 22 11 6 Popular vote 1,007,737 291,605 294,968 Percentage 48.93% 14.16% 14.32% Swing 10.07 1.02 1.77   Fourth party Fifth party   ON CCA Leader No leader Bill Feldman Party One Nation City Country Alliance Leader since N/A 13 December 1999 Leader's seat N/A Caboolture Last election 11 seats, 22.68% Did not exist Seats won 3 0[a] Seat change 8 6 Popular vote 179,076 49,263 Percentage 8.69% 2.39% Swing 13.98 2.39
Premier before election Peter Beattie Labor Elected Premier Peter Beattie Labor

The longstanding coalition between the Nationals and Liberals, led by Nationals leader (and former premier) Rob Borbidge recorded only a 2.39% swing against it. However, its support in Brisbane all but vanished; indeed, Labor won every seat in Brisbane except Moggill. Largely due to losses in Brisbane, the Coalition suffered an overall 17-seat loss. This included only three seats for the Liberals, easily the worst showing for the urban non-Labor party in Queensland since it adopted the Liberal banner in 1948. The 'Just Vote 1' strategy adopted by the Labor campaign (capitalising on Queensland's optional preferential voting system) was also considered to be effective in reducing preference flows between the Coalition parties, thereby dampening the combined strength of the conservative parties.^[1]

Key dates

Date	Event
23 January 2001	Writs were issued by the Governor to proceed with an election.[2]
29 January 2001	Close of electoral rolls.
30 January 2001	Close of nominations.
17 February 2001	Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm.
22 February 2001	The Beattie Ministry was reconstituted.
2 March 2001	The writ was returned and the results formally declared.

Electoral redistribution

A redistribution of electoral boundaries occurred in 1999.

The electorates of Archerfield, Barambah, Caboolture, Chermside, Crows Nest, Kedron, Merrimac, Mooloolah, Nerang, Sunnybank, Warwick, Western Downs, and Yeronga were abolished.

The electorates of Algester, Darling Downs, Gaven, Glass House, Kawana, Mudgeeraba, Nanango, Pumicestone, Robina, Southern Downs, Stafford, Stretton, and Yeerongpilly were created.

The redistribution merged Chermside with Kedron to create the notionally Labor-held Stafford north of Brisbane, and Crows Nest with Western Downs to create the notionally National-held Darling Downs in regional Queensland. Notionally National-held Gaven was created on the Gold Coast, and notionally One Nation-held Glass House was created on the Sunshine Coast. Archerfield was renamed Algester, Caboolture was renamed Pumicestone, Merrimac was renamed Robina, Mooloolah was renamed Kawana, Nerang was renamed Mudgeeraba, Sunnybank was renamed Stretton, Warwick was renamed Southern Downs, and Yeronga was renamed Yeerongpilly. Albert notionally became Labor-held, Callide notionally became One Nation-held, while Springwood notionally became Liberal-held.

The changes resulted in 43 notionally Labor-held seats, 10 notionally Liberal-held seats, 21 notionally National-held seats, 13 notionally One Nation-held seats, and 2 notionally Independent-held seats.

Retiring members

Labor

• Paul Braddy MLA (Kedron)
• David Hamill MLA (Ipswich)

National

• Russell Cooper MLA (Crows Nest)
• Tony Elliott MLA (Cunningham)
• Brian Littleproud MLA (Western Downs)
• Len Stephan MLA (Gympie)

Independent

• Jim Elder MLA (Capalaba) – Elected for the Labor Party
• Mike Kaiser MLA (Woodridge) – Elected for the Labor Party
• Grant Musgrove MLA (Springwood) – Elected for the Labor Party

Results

See also: Results of the Queensland state election, 2001

Winning party by electorate.

Party		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Labor	1,007,737	48.93	10.07	66	22
	Liberal	294,968	14.32	1.77	3	6
	National	291,605	14.16	1.02	12	11
	One Nation	179,076	8.69	13.98	3	8
	Independents	177,334	8.61	6.44	5	3
	Greens	51,630	2.51	0.15	0	0
	City Country Alliance	49,263	2.39	New	0	New
	Democrats	7,029	0.34	1.27	0	0
	Christian Democrats	919	0.04	0.07	0	0
Total		2,059,561	100.00	–	89	–
Valid votes		2,059,561	97.73
Invalid/blank votes		47,849	2.27	0.84
Total votes		2,107,410	100.00	–
Registered voters/turnout		2,276,044	92.59	0.26
Source: [3]

Popular vote Labor   48.93% Liberal   14.32% Nationals   14.16% One Nation   8.69% Greens   2.51% City Country Alliance   2.39% Democrats   0.34% Christian Democrats   0.04% Independents   8.61%

Seats Labor   74.16% Nationals   13.48% Liberal   3.37% One Nation   3.37% Independents   5.62%

Seats changing hands

Seat	1999 Redistribution				Swing	2001 Election
	Party		Member	Margin		Margin	Member	Party
Aspley		Liberal	John Goss	2.00	–6.69	4.69	Bonny Barry	Labor
Broadwater		National	Allan Grice	10.70	–13.15	2.45	Peta-Kaye Croft	Labor
Burdekin		One Nation	Jeff Knuth¹	8.90	–14.03	5.13	Steve Rodgers	Labor
Burleigh		National	Judy Gamin	8.50	–10.28	1.78	Christine Smith	Labor
Burnett		National	Doug Slack	1.40	–3.10	1.70	Trevor Strong	Labor
Callide		One Nation	notional	0.60	–2.92	2.32	Jeff Seeney	National
Charters Towers		National	Rob Mitchell	3.20	–5.37	2.17	Christine Scott	Labor
Clayfield		Liberal	Santo Santoro	4.50	–6.48	1.98	Liddy Clark	Labor
Darling Downs		National	Russell Cooper	5.10	–6.23	1.13	Ray Hopper	Independent
Gaven		National	Bill Baumann	7.30	–14.90	7.60	Robert Poole	Labor
Glass House		One Nation	notional	4.30	–13.88	9.58	Carolyn Male	Labor
Gympie		National	Len Stephan	3.50	–6.76	3.26	Elisa Roberts	One Nation
Hervey Bay		One Nation	David Dalgleish¹	4.20	–11.83	7.63	Andrew McNamara	Labor
Indooroopilly		Liberal	Denver Beanland	0.40	–3.28	2.88	Ronan Lee	Labor
Ipswich West		One Nation	Jack Paff¹	4.30	–11.60	7.30	Don Livingstone	Labor
Kawana		Liberal	Bruce Laming	16.10	–18.72	2.62	Chris Cummins	Labor
Maryborough		One Nation	John Kingston²	8.50	–9.00	0.50	John Kingston	Independent
Mudgeeraba		Liberal	Ray Connor	11.60	–18.37	6.77	Dianne Reilly	Labor
Mulgrave		One Nation	notional³	2.70	–13.99	11.29	Warren Pitt	Labor
Nanango		One Nation	Dorothy Pratt²	2.20	–19.27	17.07	Dorothy Pratt	Independent
Noosa		Liberal	Bruce Davidson	10.40	–11.30	0.90	Cate Molloy	Labor
Pumicestone		One Nation	Bill Feldman¹	0.80	–16.90	16.10	Carryn Sullivan	Labor
Redlands		National	John Hegarty	0.60	–7.46	6.86	John English	Labor
Southport		National	Mick Veivers	3.10	–13.94	10.84	Peter Lawlor	Labor
Springwood		Liberal	notional	0.30	–10.67	10.37	Barbara Stone	Labor
Thuringowa		One Nation	Ken Turner²	5.60	–9.16	3.56	Anita Phillips	Labor
Toowoomba North		National	Graham Healy	10.0	–11.87	1.87	Kerry Shine	Labor
Whitsunday		One Nation	Harry Black¹	3.20	–12.78	9.58	Jan Jarratt	Labor

• Members listed in italics did not contest their seat at this election.
• ¹ Jeff Knuth, David Dalgleish, Jack Paff, Bill Feldman, and Harry Black were elected as members of the One Nation Party, but resigned in 1999 and formed the City Country Alliance, and contested the 2001 election for that party.
• ² John Kingston, Dorothy Pratt, and Ken Turner were elected as members of the One Nation Party, but resigned in 1999, and contested the 2001 election as Independents.
• ³ Warren Pitt gained Mulgrave for the Labor Party in the 1998 by-election. The One Nation Party had won the seat at the 1998 election.
• The Labor Party also retained the seat of Albert which had a notional Labor margin, and the seats of Capalaba and Woodridge, where sitting Labor members had resigned to become Independents.
• The One Nation Party also retained the seat of Lockyer, where the sitting member contested the 2001 election as a member of the City Country Alliance, and Tablelands, where the sitting member contested the 2001 election as an Independent.

Post-election pendulum

Labor seats (66)
Marginal
Noosa	Cate Molloy	ALP	0.90%
Burnett	Trevor Strong	ALP	1.70%
Burleigh	Christine Smith	ALP	1.78%
Toowoomba North	Kerry Shine	ALP	1.87%
Clayfield	Liddy Clark	ALP	1.98%
Charters Towers	Christine Scott	ALP	2.17%
Broadwater	Peta-Kaye Croft	ALP	2.45%
Kawana	Chris Cummins	ALP	2.62%
Indooroopilly	Ronan Lee	ALP	2.88%
Thuringowa	Anita Phillips	ALP	3.56% v IND
Aspley	Bonny Barry	ALP	4.69%
Burdekin	Steve Rodgers	ALP	5.13%
Fairly Safe
Mudgeeraba	Dianne Reilly	ALP	6.77%
Redlands	John English	ALP	6.86%
Barron River	Lesley Clark	ALP	7.26% v IND
Ipswich West	Don Livingstone	ALP	7.30% v ONP
Gaven	Robert Poole	ALP	7.60%
Hervey Bay	Andrew McNamara	ALP	7.63% v ONP
Mansfield	Phil Reeves	ALP	8.62%
Mount Ommaney	Julie Attwood	ALP	8.74% v IND
Townsville	Mike Reynolds	ALP	9.33%
Glass House	Carolyn Male	ALP	9.58%
Whitsunday	Jan Jarratt	ALP	9.58%
Safe
Springwood	Barbara Stone	ALP	10.37%
Southport	Peter Lawlor	ALP	10.84%
Mulgrave	Warren Pitt	ALP	11.29% v ONP
Mundingburra	Peter Lawlor	ALP	11.38%
Albert	Margaret Keech	ALP	12.65% v ONP
Stretton	Stephen Robertson	ALP	12.66%
Mackay	Tim Mulherin	ALP	13.52%
Greenslopes	Gary Fenlon	ALP	14.09%
Mount Gravatt	Judy Spence	ALP	14.17%
Currumbin	Merri Rose	ALP	14.55%
Capalaba	Michael Choi	ALP	14.62% v IND
Cairns	Desley Boyle	ALP	14.82%
Bundaberg	Nita Cunningham	ALP	14.90%
Ashgrove	Jim Fouras	ALP	15.03%
Chatsworth	Terry Mackenroth	ALP	15.15%
Pumicestone	Carryn Sullivan	ALP	16.10%
Mount Coot-tha	Wendy Edmond	ALP	16.12%
Mount Isa	Tony McGrady	ALP	16.23% v ONP
Cleveland	Darryl Briskey	ALP	16.66%
Ipswich	Rachel Nolan	ALP	16.76% v ONP
Fitzroy	Jim Pearce	ALP	17.18%
Everton	Rod Welford	ALP	17.46%
Redcliffe	Ray Hollis	ALP	17.61%
Waterford	Tom Barton	ALP	18.01% v ONP
Very Safe
Ferny Grove	Geoff Wilson	ALP	20.54%
Woodridge	Desley Scott	ALP	21.08% v ONP
Murrumba	Dean Wells	ALP	21.12%
Kallangur	Ken Hayward	ALP	21.37%
Inala	Henry Palaszczuk	ALP	21.46% v IND
Yeerongpilly	Matt Foley	ALP	22.18%
Logan	John Mickel	ALP	22.28%
Stafford	Terry Sullivan	ALP	22.39%
Algester	Karen Struthers	ALP	22.63%
Kurwongbah	Linda Lavarch	ALP	22.70%
Cook	Steve Bredhauer	ALP	22.86% v ONP
Bulimba	Pat Purcell	ALP	23.22%
Rockhampton	Robert Schwarten	ALP	24.18%
Lytton	Paul Lucas	ALP	24.40%
Sandgate	Gordon Nuttall	ALP	24.47%
South Brisbane	Anna Bligh	ALP	24.93%
Brisbane Central	Peter Beattie	ALP	24.96%
Nudgee	Neil Roberts	ALP	25.13%
Bundamba	Jo-Ann Miller	ALP	30.91%

National/Liberal seats (15)
Marginal
Warrego	Howard Hobbs	NAT	0.30% v IND
Maroochydore	Fiona Simpson	NAT	0.79%
Moggill	David Watson	LIB	0.88%
Caloundra	Joan Sheldon	LIB	0.97%
Keppel	Vince Lester	NAT	1.46%
Callide	Jeff Seeney	NAT	2.32% v ONP
Hinchinbrook	Marc Rowell	NAT	2.77% v ONP
Mirani	Ted Malone	NAT	3.80%
Robina	Bob Quinn	LIB	4.03%
Beaudesert	Kev Lingard	NAT	5.09%
Surfers Paradise	Rob Borbidge	NAT	5.29%
Fairly Safe
Toowoomba South	Mike Horan	NAT	7.94%
Cunningham	Stuart Copeland	NAT	8.63%
Gregory	Vaughan Johnson	NAT	9.30%
Safe
Southern Downs	Lawrence Springborg	NAT	16.77%
Crossbench seats (8)
Maryborough	John Kingston	IND	0.50% v ALP
Darling Downs	Ray Hopper	IND	1.13% v NAT
Gympie	Elisa Roberts	ONP	3.26% v ALP
Gladstone	Liz Cunningham	IND	3.50% v ALP
Lockyer	Bill Flynn	ONP	7.30% v ALP
Tablelands	Rosa Lee Long	ONP	13.81% v ALP
Nanango	Dorothy Pratt	IND	17.07% v ALP
Nicklin	Peter Wellington	IND	23.43% v ONP

Subsequent changes

• On 20 March 2001, former National Premier Rob Borbidge (Surfers Paradise) resigned. At the by-election on 5 May 2001, Independent Lex Bell won the seat.
• On 22 December 2001, Ray Hopper (Darling Downs) joined the National Party.
• On 18 April 2002, Elisa Roberts (Gympie) resigned from the One Nation Party and sat as an Independent.
• On 24 March 2003, Independent John Kingston (Maryborough) resigned. At the by-election on 26 April 2003, Independent Chris Foley won the seat.

Notes

1. The six City Country Alliance MLAs represented in the Queensland Parliament broke away from the One Nation party post-1998 state election.