Electoral district of Southern Downs

Not to be confused with Arundel and South Downs (UK Parliament constituency) or South Down (UK Parliament constituency).

Southern Downs is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. It was created in 2001 as a replacement for Warwick.^[1]

Southern Downs Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Electoral District of Southern Downs 2017
State	Queensland
Dates current	2001–present
MP	James Lister
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Darling Downs
Electors	36,029 (2020)
Area	30,951 km2 (11,950.2 sq mi)
Demographic	Regional
Coordinates	28°20′S 150°42′E
Electorates around Southern Downs: Warrego Condamine Lockyer Warrego Southern Downs Scenic Rim New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales

Electoral map of Southern Downs 2008

The district takes in the southern parts of the Darling Downs region along the New South Wales border. It includes the towns of Warwick, Goondiwindi, Stanthorpe, Millmerran and Allora. It also consists of several smaller communities such as Inglewood, Texas, Killarney, Wallangarra and Cecil Plains.

The Darling Downs has traditionally been a conservative area, and Southern Downs is no exception. It has been a safe seat for the Liberal National Party and its predecessor, the National Party for its entire existence. Warwick had been in the hands of a non-Labor party since 1947.

The seat's first member, Lawrence Springborg, transferred from Warwick in 2001. He served as the last leader of the Queensland branch of the National Party from January until July 2008, having previously served in the post from 2003 to 2006. He then served as the first leader of the LNP from 2008 to 2009, and again from 2015 to 2016. He also served as a minister in the Newman government.

Members for Southern Downs

Member		Party	Term
	Lawrence Springborg	National	2001–2008
		Liberal National	2008–2017
	James Lister	Liberal National	2017–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Southern Downs

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Queensland state election § Southern Downs.[edit]

2024 Queensland state election: Southern Downs^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	James Lister	17,890	53.91	+2.31
	One Nation	Liz Suduk	6,085	18.33	+8.33
	Labor	Greg Johnson	5,999	18.08	−7.92
	Greens	David Newport	1,870	5.63	+1.53
	Family First	Melinda Keller	1,344	4.05	+4.05
Total formal votes			33,188	96.33
Informal votes			1,265	3.67
Turnout			34,453	89.18
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Liberal National	James Lister	22,752	68.55	+4.45
	One Nation	Liz Suduk	10,436	31.45	+31.45
	Liberal National hold		Swing	+4.45

Primary vote results in Southern Downs (Parties that have never gotten 5% of the vote are omitted)

  National/Liberal National

  Labor

  One Nation

  Katter's Australian

  Greens

  Family First

  Independent

Two-candidate-preferred vote results in Southern Downs