A by-election was held in theLegislative Assembly of Queensland seat ofRockhampton on 16 February 1985. It was triggered by the resignation of sittingLabor memberKeith Wright.
The seat was retained by the Labor Party with the election of candidatePaul Braddy.
Keith Wright was first elected to state parliament at the1969 state election as the Labor member forRockhampton South, retaining the seat at the1972 state election when the district was renamedRockhampton. Wright held Rockhampton continuously thereafter, becomingLeader of the Opposition on 20 October 1982. After leading his party to defeat at the1983 state election, at which his own support in Rockhampton had slipped by 6% despite statewide gains by his party, Wright was replaced as leader on 29 August 1984 byNev Warburton.[1]
Wright resigned from state parliament on 5 November 1984 to contest the1984 federal election. The following month he was elected as member for the overlapping federal seat ofCapricornia.
The Nationals made a determined effort to win the seat, as it would extend their base in the provincial cities zone. The by-election coincided with a major industrial dispute within the state's power industry between the government and the trade union movement.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 5 November 1984 | Keith Wright resigned, vacating the seat ofRockhampton. |
| 25 January 1985 | Writs were issued by theSpeaker to proceed with a by-election.[2] |
| 1 February 1985 | Close of nominations and draw of ballot papers. |
| 16 February 1985 | Polling day, between the hours of 8am and 6pm. |
| 11 March 1985 | The writ was returned and the results formally declared. |
Normally a safe seat for the Labor Party, it was retained by new candidate Paul Braddy. The result was nonetheless a boost for new Labor leaderNev Warburton and a blow to the governing Nationals, who might have hoped that the ongoing industrial dispute between the government and the state's power industry workers would hurt the Labor Party.[3]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Paul Braddy | 8,409 | 58.98 | +1.77 | |
| National | Col Webber | 5,849 | 41.02 | –0.92 | |
| Total formal votes | 14,258 | 97.87 | –1.13 | ||
| Informal votes | 310 | 2.13 | +1.13 | ||
| Turnout | 14,568 | 87.77 | –5.24 | ||
| Laborhold | Swing | +1.77 | |||