SEAT CLASSIFICATION

LNP 4.6% (Considered a marginal seat, as winning candidate at the last election, Warren Entsch, received less than 56 per cent of the two candidate preferred vote.)

INCUMBENT MP

Warren Entsch, since 2010, has held the seat for five terms out of the last six. Previously Member for Leichhardt 1996-2007. He retired from 2007-2010 to spend more time with his teenage son. Entsch’s primary vote has increased every year that he has run.

GEOGRAPHY

Leichhardt covers the Cape York Peninsula and the east coast of Australia as far south as Cairns. Most of the population is in the Cairns and Douglas regions.

THE TALLY ROOM ASSESSMENT

Leichhardt is a marginal seat, but in current circumstances should safely remain in Liberal National Party hands.

HISTORY

First created at the 1949 election, the seat has been won by a party of government at every election since 1972, making it one of Australia’s longest-standing bellwether seats, along with Eden-Monaro.

• 1949  Tom Gilmore, Country Party
• 1951  Henry Bruce, ALP (Held the seat until his death shortly before the 1958 election)
• 1958  Bill Fulton, ALP (Held the seat until his retirement at the 1975 election)
• 1975  David Thomson, National Country Party in 1975 (Served as a minister in the Fraser government from 1979-83)
• 1983  John Gayler, ALP (Held the seat until his retirement in 1993)
• 1993  Peter Dodd, ALP
• 1996  Warren Entsch, LNP (Held the seat for eleven years before retiring in 2007)
• 2007  Jim Turnout, ALP (Won set by a swing of over 14 per cent)
• 2010  Warren Entsch, LNP (On his political return, Entsch won his seat back a primary vote of 47.4 per cent against Turnour, a swing of 4.66 per cent)

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2013 CANDIDATES

• Dale Edwards (Rise Up Australia)
• Warren Entsch (Liberal National)
• Bruce Gibson (Palmer United Party)
• Billy Gordon (Labor)
• Johanna Kloot (Greens)
• Frank Miles (Family First)
• George Ryan (Katter’s Australian Party)

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BOOTH BREAKDOWN

Booths have been divided into four areas. Most polling places lie in Cairns Regional Council, with the remainder of polling places grouped as “Cape York”. The booths in the Cairns area have been divided into North, South and Central. Douglas is in the North. The LNP won a majority in the four areas in the Cairns local government area, varying from 52.8 per cent in the centre of Cairns, to 57 per cent in the Douglas area.

Source: Tallyroom.com.au, Australian Electoral Commission, Office of Warren Entsch, MP.