Bracken Ridge Ward

The Bracken Ridge Ward is a Brisbane City Council ward covering Bracken Ridge, Bald Hills, Carseldine, Fitzgibbon, and parts of Aspley and Zillmere.^[2] It was established for the 1985 Brisbane City Council election,^[3] and is one of only eight wards to have been contested at every election since 1985.^[a]

Bracken Ridge Ward
Created	1985
MP	Sandy Landers
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Bracken Ridge
Electors	31,445 (2024)[1]
Demographic	Outer metropolitan

The ward has been represented by the Liberal Party, and subsequently the Liberal National Party, since its creation.^[3] It has been represented by Sandy Landers of the Liberal National Party since October 2019.^[2][3]

History

The Bracken Ridge Ward was established for the 1985 Brisbane City Council election, as part of increasing the number of wards in the City of Brisbane was increased from 21 to 26.^[3][4][5] The ward was created from the western half of the abolished Bramble Bay Ward – covering the suburbs of Bracken Ridge, Bald Hills, and Fitzgibbon – and a small part of the retained (but significantly altered) Chermside Ward – covering parts of the suburbs of Aspley, Carseldine, Zillmere.^[4][5] It has since largely maintained these boundaries; losing a small section of Zillmere and gaining the rest of Carseldine.

At the 1985 election, Keith Murray was elected for the Liberal Party, contributing to the party's defeat of the incumbent Labor Party after twenty-four years in office.^[6] Murray was re-elected at the 1988, 1991, and 1994 elections.^[3]

Carol Cashman succeeded Murray for the Liberal Party at the 1997 election, and was re-elected in 2000 and 2004.^[7] Cashman resigned in 2007, and Amanda Cooper was appointed to the casual vacancy.^[7][8] Cooper retained the ward for the Liberal Party at the 2008 election, which merged with the Nationals to form the Liberal National Party in July of that year.^[3] She was re-elected at the 2012 and 2016 elections,^[3] and represented the ward until October 2019, when she resigned to (unsuccessfully) contest the District of Aspley in the 2020 Queensland state election for the Liberal National Party.^[9][10][3]

Sandy Landers was appointed in October 2019 to fill the casual vacancy caused by Cooper's resignation.^[2][3] She retained the ward at the 2020 election, and was re-elected at the 2024 election.

Councillors for Bracken Ridge Ward

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Keith Murray	Liberal	30 March 1985 – 15 March 1997	Ward established for 1985 election.
		Carol Cashman	Liberal	15 March 1997 – June 2007	Resigned.[11]
		Amanda Cooper	Liberal	June 2007 – 26 July 2008	Appointed to fill vacancy.[11] Resigned to (unsuccessfully) contest the District of Aspley at the 2020 Queensland state election.[3][12]
			Liberal National	26 July 2008 – 14 October 2019
		Sandy Landers	Liberal National	22 October 2019 – present	Appointed to fill vacancy.[12]

Results

2024

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Queensland local elections § Bracken Ridge.[edit]

2024 Queensland local elections: Bracken Ridge Ward^[13][14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Sandy Landers	14,997	56.91	+6.87
	Labor	Thomas Stephen	7,836	29.74	−7.80
	Greens	John Harbison	3,519	13.35	+0.93
Total formal votes			26,352	97.63	+0.54
Informal votes			640	2.37	−0.54
Turnout			26,992	85.84	+4.58
Two-party-preferred result[15]
	Liberal National	Sandy Landers	15,418	61.37	+7.22
	Labor	Thomas Stephen	9,704	38.63	−7.22
	Liberal National hold		Swing	+7.22

2020

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2020 Queensland local elections § Bracken Ridge.[edit]

2020 Queensland local elections: Bracken Ridge Ward^[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Sandy Landers	11,798	50.0	−6.6
	Labor	Cath Palmer	8,850	37.5	+2.9
	Greens	Kathryn Fry	2,929	12.4	+3.6
Total formal votes			23,577
Informal votes			707
Turnout			24,284
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Sandy Landers	12,127	54.2	−6.4
	Labor	Cath Palmer	10,267	45.8	+6.4
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−6.4

2016

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2016 Queensland local elections § Bracken Ridge.[edit]

2016 Queensland local elections: Bracken Ridge Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Amanda Cooper	13,669	56.6	−10.4
	Labor	Cath Palmer	8,352	34.6	+9.3
	Greens	Keith Skelton	2,120	8.8	+1.1
Total formal votes			24,141	-	−
Informal votes			688	-	−
Turnout			24,829	-	−
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Amanda Cooper	13,989	60.6	−11.1
	Labor	Cath Palmer	9,101	39.4	+11.1
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−11.1

2012

2012 Brisbane City Council election: Bracken Ridge Ward^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Amanda Cooper	14,786	67.0	+7.9
	Labor	Carla Pinder	5,583	25.3	−7.3
	Greens	Keith Skelton	1,695	7.7	+2.3
Total formal votes			22,064	-	−
Informal votes			551	2.4	+0.5
Turnout			22,615	-	−
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Amanda Cooper	15,027	71.6	+7.7
	Labor	Carla Pinder	5,962	28.4	−7.7
	Liberal National hold		Swing	+7.7

2008

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2008 Queensland local elections § Bracken Ridge.[edit]

2008 Queensland local elections: Bracken Ridge Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Amanda Cooper	13,322	59.16	−6.26
	Labor	Sean Waugh	7,332	32.56	+3.99
	Greens	Janine Murphy	1,214	5.39	+0.62
Informal votes			440	1.92	−0.12
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Amanda Cooper	13,501	63.88	−5.31
	Labor	Sean Waugh	7,634	36.12	+5.31
	Liberal hold		Swing	−5.31

2004

This section is an excerpt from 2004 Brisbane City Council election § Bracken Ridge.[edit]

2004 Brisbane City Council election: Bracken Ridge Ward

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Carol Cashman	14,103	65.45
	Labor	Steve Davey	6,137	28.48
	Greens	Mark Carey-Smith	1,308	6.07
Total formal votes			21,548	98.07
Informal votes			423	1.93
Turnout			21,971	89.25
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Carol Cashman	14,274	69.19
	Labor	Steve Davey	6,356	30.81
	Liberal hold		Swing

External links

• Bracken Ridge Ward Map at Electoral Commission of Queensland

Notes

1. Alongside Deagon, Doboy, Enoggera, Holland Park, Jamboree, McDowall, and The Gap wards.