Division of Fairfax

The Division of Fairfax is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. It was set up in 1984 and is named after Ruth Fairfax, founder of the Country Women's Association.^[1] It is covers the Sunshine Coast region north of Brisbane and includes the towns of Buderim, Coolum, Eumundi, Kenilworth, Mapleton, Maroochydore, Montville, Nambour, Palmwoods, Peregian Springs, Woombye and Yandina.^[1]

Fairfax Australian House of Representatives Division
Map Interactive map of boundaries
Created	1984
MP	Ted O'Brien
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Ruth Fairfax
Electors	95,467 (2013)
Area	1,036 km2 (400.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Evan Adermann	National	1984–1990
	Alex Somlyay	Liberal	1990–2010
		Liberal National	2010–2013
	Clive Palmer	Palmer United	2013–2016
	Ted O’Brien	Liberal National	2016–present

In the 2013 election, mining millionaire and leader of the Palmer United Party, Clive Palmer won the seat by 36 votes at the first count. This was reduced to 7 votes after a recount of the distribution of preferences.^[2] Because this was less than 100 votes, the Australian Electoral Commission counted all the votes again which gave Palmer a win by 53 votes. ^[3]

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Fairfax[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Ted O'Brien	46,551	44.91	−4.71
	Labor	Sue Ferguson	22,662	21.86	+0.38
	Greens	Sue Etheridge	13,862	13.37	+0.78
	One Nation	Nikki Civitarese	6,798	6.56	−1.29
	United Australia	Lisa Khoury	6,132	5.92	+2.86
	Animal Justice	Tash Poole	2,182	2.10	+2.10
	Informed Medical Options	Wendy Hazelton	1,997	1.93	+1.93
	Independent	Barry Smith	1,423	1.37	+1.37
	Great Australian	Craig White	1,319	1.27	+1.27
	Independent	Sinim Australie	733	0.71	−0.64
Total formal votes			103,659	94.47	+0.90
Informal votes			6,066	5.53	−0.90
Turnout			109,725	88.99	−2.45
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Ted O'Brien	61,108	58.95	−4.49
	Labor	Sue Ferguson	42,551	41.05	+4.49
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−4.49