 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
Division of Groom (QLD) in the House of Representatives | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered | 108,550 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 81.66% | |||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
 The Division of Groom in Queensland | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2020 Groom by-election was held on 28 November 2020 to elect the next Member of Parliament for the division of Groom in the House of Representatives. The by-election was triggered following the resignation of incumbent Liberal National MP John McVeigh on 18 September 2020. [1]
The electorate of Groom, like the Division of Darling Downs before it, is a safe conservative seat. Since its foundation in 1984, it has always been held by the Country/National, Liberal or, since 2010, Liberal National parties. Groom has been represented by four MPs: the first, Tom McVeigh, was a Nationals MP and father of the outgoing MP John McVeigh. McVeigh's appointment as Queensland Agent-General in London led to his resignation, with both the National and Liberal parties contesting the ensuing by-election. [2] With a 20.1% drop in the Nationals primary vote following the failed Joh for Canberra campaign, the Liberal candidate Bill Taylor, a former naval officer, was elected and served until his retirement at the 1998 federal election.
Taylor was succeeded by Ian Macfarlane, who served as a minister in the Howard and Abbott governments. Macfarlane remained aligned to the federal Liberal Party following the merger of the Queensland Liberals and Nationals in 2008, but in 2015 attempted to defect to the federal Nationals after being dropped from cabinet. [3] The move was blocked by party executives, [4] and Macfarlane opted to retire at the 2016 election.
The outgoing MP, John McVeigh, was elected to federal parliament in 2016, having previously served in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland as the member for Toowoomba South. McVeigh's pre-selection triggered the 2016 Toowoomba South state by-election, with the seat being retained by the Liberal Nationals. Despite serving as the Toowoomba branch president of the Young Nationals in the 1980s, McVeigh sat with the federal Liberals upon his election.
| Election | 2010 | 2013 | 2016 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal National | 68.53% | 66.47% | 65.31% | 70.48% | |
| Labor | 31.47% | 33.53% | 34.69% | 29.52% | |
Key dates in relation to the by-election are: [5]
Matt Canavan, an LNP Senator for Queensland who sits with the federal National Party room, had publicly expressed interest in seeking Liberal National preselection. [6] [7] On 28 September, Canavan confirmed he would not stand after the Groom branch of the Liberal Nationals voted to defer a decision on whether the seat would remain aligned with the federal Liberal Party. [8]
Preselection for the Liberal National Party was to be held on 25 October, and was expected to be contested by eight candidates: [9]
Prior to the preselection, van Gend's candidacy was endorsed by several prominent conservatives, including Canavan, Tasmanian senator Eric Abetz, former Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson and columnist Miranda Devine. [10] Councillor Vonhoff was believed to have to the backing of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and former Groom MP Ian Macfarlane. [11]
On 25 October 2020, Garth Hamilton won the preselection and was the LNP candidate for the by-election. [12]
Lawyer Chris Meibusch was preselected by Labor to contest the by-election. [13] Meibusch previously contested the seat in the 2007 and 2010 federal elections but was unsuccessful.
The Australian Greens decided to not contest the by-election. [14] It was the first federal by-election the party had not contested since Warringah in 1994. [15]
Four candidates nominated to contest the by-election. [16]
| Candidates (4) in ballot paper order | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Background | |
| Sustainable Australia | Sandra Jephcott | Veterinarian and farmer. [17] | |
| Liberal Democrats | Craig Farquharson | Toowoomba vape store owner. [18] | |
| Liberal National | Garth Hamilton | Businessman and mining engineer. [12] | |
| Labor | Chris Meibusch | Lawyer and local environmental activist. [13] | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal National | Garth Hamilton | 51,534 | 59.83 | +6.49 | |
| Labor | Chris Meibusch | 23,500 | 27.28 | +8.62 | |
| Sustainable Australia | Sandra Jephcott | 6,716 | 7.80 | +7.80 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Craig Farquharson | 4,391 | 5.10 | +5.10 | |
| Total formal votes | 86,141 | 97.18 | +0.38 | ||
| Informal votes | 2,504 | 2.82 | −0.38 | ||
| Turnout | 88,645 | 81.66 | −11.38 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal National | Garth Hamilton | 57,875 | 67.19 | −3.29 | |
| Labor | Chris Meibusch | 28,266 | 32.81 | +3.29 | |
| Liberal National hold | Swing | −3.29 | |||
Michael Andrew Johnson is a Hong Kong-born Australian former politician who was a member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Ryan in Queensland from 2001 to 2010, representing the Liberal Party from November 2001 to May 2010 and then as an independent from May 2010 until he was defeated by Liberal National member Jane Prentice at the 2010 federal election.
Ian Elgin MacfarlaneHonFAusIMM is an Australian former politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2016, representing the Liberal Party. He served as a minister in the Howard and Abbott governments.
Commodore William Leonard Taylor, is a former Australian naval officer and politician. He was a senior officer in the Royal Australian Navy, resigning to run for federal parliament. He represented the Liberal Party in the House of Representatives from 1988 to 1998, holding the Queensland seat of Groom. He later served as administrator of the Australian Indian Ocean Territories from 1999 to 2003.
The Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) is a major political party in Queensland, Australia. It was formed in 2008 by a merger of the Queensland divisions of the Liberal Party and the National Party. At a federal level and in most other states, the two parties remain distinct and often operate as a Coalition. The LNP is a division of the Liberal Party of Australia, and an affiliate of the National Party of Australia.
This article provides details on candidates who stood at the 2010 Australian federal election.
Scott Andrew Buchholz is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and served as an assistant minister in the Morrison government from 2018 until May 2022, following the appointment of the Albanese ministry. He has represented the seat of Wright since the 2010 federal election, sitting with the parliamentary Liberal Party, and previously served as chief government whip in the House of Representatives in the Abbott government in 2015. He was a businessman in the transport industry before entering politics.
John Joseph McVeigh is an Australian former politician. He was elected to the House of Representatives at the 2016 federal election, representing the Division of Groom. He was a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sat in the Liberal party room. During the Turnbull government he served in cabinet as Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government from 2017 to 2018. He previously served in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland from 2012 to 2016 and was Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry under Premier Campbell Newman.
This is a list of members of the Australian House of Representatives of the 44th Parliament of Australia (2013–2016), as elected at the 2013 federal election.
James Anthony McGrath is an Australian politician and Senator for Queensland since 2014. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament. Following his re-election in 2022, McGrath was appointed as Shadow Assistant Minister for Finance and Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition.
This article lists candidates for the 2016 Australian federal election. There were 1,625 candidates in total.
A by-election was conducted for the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Toowoomba South on 16 July 2016, following the 29 April resignation of LNP MP John McVeigh. McVeigh resigned after he was preselected as the LNP candidate for the federal division of Groom at the 2016 federal election.
Edward Lynam O'Brien is an Australian politician. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and has represented the seat of Fairfax in the House of Representatives since the 2016 federal election. He sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament. Prior to entering politics he was a businessman and lobbyist, also serving as chairman of the Australian Republic Movement (2005–2007).
Trevor Mark Evans is a former Australian politician who had been a member of the House of Representatives from 2016 to 2022, representing the Division of Brisbane. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland, and sat with the Liberal Party in federal parliament. Evans served as the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management in the Morrison government from May 2019 until May 2022.
Colin Einar Boyce is an Australian politician who is a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Division of Flynn since 2022. He is a member of the Liberal National Party and sits with the National Party in federal parliament.
The 2020 Queensland state election was held on 31 October to elect all 93 members to the 57th Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The Labor Party was returned to government for a third-term, led by incumbent premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. With 47 seats needed to form a majority government, Labor won 52 seats, including all but five in Brisbane, while the Liberal National Party won 34 seats and formed opposition. On the crossbench, Katter's Australian Party retained its 3 seats, the Queensland Greens picked up South Brisbane for a total of 2, Pauline Hanson's One Nation retained Mirani and independent Sandy Bolton retained her seat of Noosa.
This is a list of candidates for the 2019 Australian federal election, held on 18 May 2019.
The 2022 Australian federal election was held on Saturday 21 May 2022 to elect members of the 47th Parliament of Australia. The incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, sought to win a fourth consecutive term in office but was defeated by the opposition Labor Party, led by Anthony Albanese. Up for election were all 151 seats in the lower house, the House of Representatives, as well as 40 of the 76 seats in the upper house, the Senate.
This is a list of members of the House of Representatives of the 46th Parliament of Australia (2019–2022).
Garth Russell Hamilton is an Australian politician who is a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Groom. He was elected in the 2020 Groom by-election, following the retirement of John McVeigh. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland (LNP) and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.
Henry Jon Pike is an Australian politician who is a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Bowman, Queensland, for the Liberal National Party of Queensland from 2022. He sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.
