| Hinchinbrook | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Map of the electoral district of Hinchinbrook, 2017 | |||||||||||||||
| State | Queensland | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Wayde Chiesa | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Liberal National | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Hinchinbrook Island | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 35,050 (2020) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 6,497 km2 (2,508.5 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 18°25′S146°9′E / 18.417°S 146.150°E | ||||||||||||||
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Hinchinbrook is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. [1] It is currently represented by Wayde Chiesa of the Liberal National Party. [2]
Originally primarily a rural electorate, the district in its present form is a narrow coastal strip running from south of Tully to the northern fringes of Townsville. Prior to the 2017 redistribution Hinchinbrook had spanned just south of Innisfail and included the towns of Mission Beach and Tully. Hinchinbrook now includes the towns of Cardwell, Ingham, Lucinda and includes the Northern Beaches suburbs of Townsville such as Bushland Beach.
The electorate was first contested in 1950 and was held by the National Party and its successor, the Liberal National Party, for over half a century. However, even as the LNP won a landslide victory in 2012, its hold on Hinchinbrook became rather tenuous amid the rise of Katter's Australian Party, with longtime MP Andrew Cripps suffering an 11 percent swing. At the 2017 state election, Nick Dametto, a member of Katter's Australian Party defeated Cripps with a large swing which he consolidated at the 2020 election.
In late September 2025, Dametto stated he would resign from the Katter's Australian Party to contest the upcoming Townsville mayoral by-election as an independent, with the election to be held in November. [3] On 2 October 2025, it was reported Dametto had already resigned from the party and would also be resigning from state parliament for the mayoral by-election. [4] Dametto won the mayoral by-election with a primary vote of 61.53%. [5] A by-election for Hinchinbrook was held on 29 November 2025 and was won by Wayde Chiesa of the Liberal National Party. [2]
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cecil Jesson | Labor | 1950–1960 | |
| John Row | Country | 1960–1972 | |
| Ted Row | Country | 1972–1974 | |
| National | 1974–1989 | ||
| Marc Rowell | National | 1989–2006 | |
| Andrew Cripps | National | 2006–2008 | |
| Liberal National | 2008–2017 | ||
| Nick Dametto | Katter's Australian | 2017–2025 | |
| Wayde Chiesa | Liberal National | 2025-Present | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal National | Wayde Chiesa | 11,771 | 41.4 | +13.2 | |
| Katter's Australian | Mark Molachino | 8,569 | 30.1 | –16.3 | |
| One Nation | Luke Sleep | 3,834 | 13.5 | +8.9 | |
| Labor | Maurie Soars | 2,356 | 8.3 | –5.8 | |
| Greens | Aiden Creagh | 980 | 3.4 | +0.5 | |
| Family First | Amanda Nickson | 620 | 2.2 | +2.2 | |
| Independent | Steven Clare | 323 | 1.1 | +1.1 | |
| Total formal votes | 28,069 | 96.0 | –0.6 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,169 | 4.0 | +0.6 | ||
| Turnout | |||||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal National | Wayde Chiesa | 15,340 | 53.79 | +16.96 | |
| Katter's Australian | Mark Molachino | 13,177 | 46.21 | –16.96 | |
| Liberal National gain from Katter's Australian | Swing | +16.96 | |||