Division of Groom

The Division of Groom is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland.

Groom Australian House of Representatives Division
Interactive map of boundaries since the 2019 federal election
Created	1984
MP	Garth Hamilton
Party	Liberal[a]
Namesake	Sir Littleton Groom
Electors	110,932 (2022)
Area	5,586 km2 (2,156.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

Groom is an agricultural electorate located on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland. It includes the regional city of Toowoomba and rural communities to the west and south.^[1]

The current MP is Garth Hamilton, a member of the Liberal Party.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.^[2]

History

Sir Littleton Groom, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 as essentially a reconfigured version of the old Division of Darling Downs, which had existed since Federation. It is named in honour of Sir Littleton Groom, who represented Darling Downs with only one short break from 1901 to 1936 and served as Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives.

It is located in the rural areas west of Brisbane and is centred on the city of Toowoomba, Australia's second largest inland city. Other centres include Oakey and Pittsworth.

Groom's electors have historically been socially conservative. In 2017, it was one of only three electorates in Queensland to vote against the Marriage Survey.^[3] However, sentiment had begun to shift in the 2022 federal election. At the 2022 federal election, there was a 13.59% swing away from the sitting LNP member, Garth Hamilton. The 2022 election result demonstrated a strong increase in votes for the local independent candidate, Suzie Holt, who secured 41.33% following distribution of preferences. This result moved the seat of Groom from "safe" to "fairly safe". The recent 2025 federal election saw a further swing of 2.73% away from the sitting LNP member, Garth Hamilton, while independent candidate Suzie Holt gained a further 8.88% of the primary vote. After distribution of preferences, Garth Hamilton retained the seat with 55.76%, with Suzie Holt further narrowing the margin from 2022, to secure 44.24%. https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-31496-164.htm

Issues such as the cost of living and housing affordability were key priorities among voters during the 2025 election. The local Liberal MP, Garth Hamilton, had consistently voted against measures to assist with the cost of living and housing affordability. Mr Hamilton voted against the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, the Build to Rent program 2024, and the Help to Buy Bill 2023. Mr Hamilton had also voted against increasing funding for university education, which negatively impacted the local University of Southern Queensland, and its students. Mr Hamilton also voted against making TAFE education fee-free, negatively impacting education, trades, and skill development in the Toowoomba region. https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/groom/garth_hamilton

Garth Hamilton supported hard-right conservative Angus Taylor to be elected as the new Liberal party leader, after previous leader Peter Dutton lost his seat of Dickson in the 2025 election. However, Sussan Ley won the leadership contest and was appointed Liberal party leader in May 2025.

Members

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Tom McVeigh (1930–)	Nationals	1 December 1984 – 29 February 1988	Previously held the Division of Darling Downs. Resigned to retire from politics. Son is John McVeigh
		Bill Taylor (1938–)	Liberal	9 April 1988 – 31 August 1998	Retired
		Ian Macfarlane (1955–)		3 October 1998 – 9 May 2016	Served as minister under Howard and Abbott. Retired
		John McVeigh[a] (1965–)		2 July 2016 – 18 September 2020	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Toowoomba South. Served as minister under Turnbull. Resigned to retire from politics. Father is Tom McVeigh
		Garth Hamilton[a] (1979–)		28 November 2020 – present	Incumbent

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Groom

2025 Australian federal election: Groom^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Garth Hamilton	42,303	40.98	−2.74
	Independent	Suzie Holt	17,695	17.14	+8.88
	Labor	Richard Edwards	17,175	16.64	−2.09
	One Nation	Rebecca Konz	9,860	9.55	−0.01
	Greens	Alyce Nelligan	5,753	5.57	−0.28
	Family First	Alexandra Todd	3,893	3.77	+3.77
	Independent	Kirstie Smolenski	3,701	3.59	−3.55
	Trumpet of Patriots	Jamie Marr	2,841	2.75	+1.15
Total formal votes			103,221	95.14	−0.14
Informal votes			5,271	4.86	+0.14
Turnout			108,492	91.13	+0.25
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Liberal National	Garth Hamilton	52,139	56.36	−0.53
	Independent	Suzie Holt	40,375	43.64	+0.53
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−0.53

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Queensland § Groom.[edit]

Results are not final. Last updated on 24 May 2025 at 1:00 AM AEST.

Notes

1. Member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland sitting with the federal parliamentary Liberal Party.