| Capricornia AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of boundaries since the2019 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1901 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Michelle Landry | ||||||||||||||
| Party | National[a] | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Tropic of Capricorn | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 115,175 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 90,903 km2 (35,097.8 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural and provincial | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
TheDivision of Capricornia is anAustralian electoral division in thestate ofQueensland. It comprises the city ofRockhampton and stretches along the Pacific coast until the southwestern outer suburbs ofMackay.
Capricornia is a traditionally aLabor-voting electorate, having been Labor-held for 72 years of the 100 years since 1922. However, Capricornia has recently trended towards theCoalition since2013. This political realignment was particularly noticeable at the2019 federal election asblue-collar but highly paidmining workers deserted Labor forPauline Hanson's One Nation and the Coalition.[1] Similar voting trends can be found in the nearby electorates ofFlynn andDawson, as well as inLeichhardt.[1]
Since 2013, itsMP has beenMichelle Landry of theNational Party.
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by theAustralian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[2]
The Division of Capricornia includes the city ofRockhampton, as well as neighbouring towns such asYeppoon andEmu Park.
The division was one of theoriginal 65 divisions contested at thefirst federal election. It is named after theTropic of Capricorn, which runs through the Division. It is located on the central Queensland coast and its centre has always been the city ofRockhampton. On its current boundaries it also includes the town ofYeppoon andOoralea, Marian and Sarina, all southern suburbs ofMackay.
The first election sawAlexander Paterson, with 51% of votes, narrowly elected over theALP candidateWallace Nelson. For most of its subsequent history it has been a fairly safe seat for the ALP. This was especially true whenGladstone was part of the seat from 1901 to 1984. Even after Gladstone was redistributed toHinkler in 1984 (it is now part ofFlynn), it remained one of the few non-metropolitan seats where Labor consistently did well. Labor held it for all but two terms from 1961 to 2013, the two exceptions being the high-tide elections of1975 and1996. Its best-known member wasFrank Forde, who was brieflyPrime Minister of Australia in 1945.
Capricornia is currently held byMichelle Landry for theLiberal National Party who in2016, became the first conservative MP to serve more than one term in the seat sinceGeorge Pearce.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal National | Michelle Landry | 36,074 | 36.56 | −2.88 | |
| Labor | Emily Mawson | 31,483 | 31.91 | +3.86 | |
| One Nation | Cheryl Kempton | 15,355 | 15.56 | +0.96 | |
| Greens | Mick Jones | 6,101 | 6.18 | +0.31 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | Stephen Andrew | 5,999 | 6.08 | +6.08 | |
| Family First | Kerri Hislop | 3,646 | 3.70 | +3.70 | |
| Total formal votes | 98,658 | 96.53 | +2.67 | ||
| Informal votes | 3,547 | 3.47 | −2.67 | ||
| Turnout | 102,205 | 88.77 | +0.17 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal National | Michelle Landry | 55,085 | 55.83 | −0.76 | |
| Labor | Emily Mawson | 43,573 | 44.17 | +0.76 | |
| Liberal Nationalhold | Swing | −0.76 | |||
22°03′04″S148°11′20″E / 22.051°S 148.189°E /-22.051; 148.189
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