| Leichhardt AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of boundaries since the2019 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1949 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Matt Smith | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Ludwig Leichhardt | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 122,787 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural and provincial | ||||||||||||||
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TheDivision of Leichhardt (/laɪkɑːrt/) is anAustralian electoral division in thestate ofQueensland. ItsMP has beenMatt Smith of theLabor Party since2025.
Leichhardt is located inFar North Queensland. It is a very mixed electorate, with its classification ranging from provincial in the south and rural and remote elsewhere. It includes the city ofCairns, as well as many towns such asCooktown,Port Douglas andWeipa, and severalIndigenous communities on theCape York Peninsula and in theTorres Strait Islands.
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.[1]
It is located inFar North Queensland and includes theTorres Strait Islands. It includes thelocal government areas ofCairns,Cook,Douglas,Torres andWujal Wujal.
As of the2021 Australian census, Leichhardt had a total of 175,620 residents (including those who are not on the electoral roll).[2] 50.4% of the population is female, and 49.6% is male.[2] This reflects a trend across northern Australia where the male population tends to be above average. The median age is 39, compared to the state and national average of 38.[2]
Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander people make up 16.3% of the total population, significantly above the state average of 4.6% and national average of 3.2%.[2]
44.8% of people in Leichhardt are unmarried, significantly higher than the national and state averages. 38.3% of residents have a registered marriage, while 16.9% are in ade facto marriage.[2]
Leichhardt is somewhat multicultural. 31.8% of the population hasEnglish ancestry, 26.9% haveAustralian ancestry, 10.9% have Aboriginal ancestry, 9.7% haveIrish ancestry and 8.7% haveScottish ancestry.[2]
The division was first contested in 1949 after the expansion of seats in theParliament of Australia. It is one of Australia's largest electorates, covering an area stretching fromCairns toCape York and theTorres Strait, including theTorres Strait Islands. It is the northernmost-reaching federal division in Australia (although it averages slightly south of theDivision of Solomon in theNorthern Territory).
The division is named afterLudwig Leichhardt, an explorer and scientist. The area was first covered by the seat ofHerbert from1901 to1934 and then by the seat ofKennedy until1949.
Most of the electorate is almost uninhabited except for small Aboriginal communities, but the extreme southeast, consisting of the northern half of theWet Tropics, with rich volcanic soils instead of the extraordinarily infertile lateritic sands and gravels of Cape York proper, is quite densely populated and includes urban Cairns. There are small, intensivesugar cane,banana andmango farms in this region, though they are prone to damage fromdroughts andcyclones.
A safeLabor seat from the late 1950s to the 1970s, it has been marginal for most of the time since then. While Cairns has historically tilted toward Labor, the more rural areas tilt toward theLiberals andNationals.
It was abellwether seat held by the party of government from the1972 election until the2010 election. WhenWarren Entsch, who held the seat from 1996 to 2007, won it back for theLNP in 2010, he became the seat's first opposition member in four decades. It also marked the first time Labor had been in government without holding Leichhardt.
Ahead of the2016 federal election,ABCpsephologistAntony Green listed the seat in his election guide as one of eleven which he classed asbellwether electorates.[3]
Warren Entsch retired from federal politics upon the dissolution of the 47th Parliament on 28 March 2025 in the lead-up to the2025 federal election. Former professional basketball playerMatt Smith subsequently won the seat for Labor, defeating LNP candidate Jeremy Neal.[4]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Tom Gilmore (1908–1994) | Country | 10 December 1949 – 28 April 1951 | Lost seat. Later elected to theLegislative Assembly of Queensland seat ofTablelands in1957 | |
 | Harry Bruce (1884–1958) | Labor | 28 April 1951 – 11 October 1958 | Previously held theLegislative Assembly of Queensland seat ofThe Tableland. Died in office | |
 | Bill Fulton (1909–1988) | 22 November 1958 – 11 November 1975 | Retired | ||
 | David Thomson (1924–2013) | National Country | 13 December 1975 – 16 October 1982 | Served as minister underFraser. Lost seat | |
| Nationals | 16 October 1982 – 5 March 1983 | ||||
 | John Gayler (1943–2022) | Labor | 5 March 1983 – 8 February 1993 | Retired | |
| Peter Dodd (1953–) | 13 March 1993 – 2 March 1996 | Lost seat | ||
 | Warren Entsch (1950–) | Liberal | 2 March 1996 – 24 November 2007 | Retired | |
| Jim Turnour (1966–) | Labor | 24 November 2007 – 21 August 2010 | Lost seat | |
| Warren Entsch (1950–) | Liberal[a] | 21 August 2010 – 28 March 2025 | Retired | |
| Matt Smith (1979–) | Labor | 3 May 2025 – present | Incumbent | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Matt Smith | 34,488 | 36.50 | +8.90 | |
| Liberal National | Jeremy Neal | 25,746 | 27.25 | −9.45 | |
| Greens | Phillip Musumeci | 8,776 | 9.29 | −0.68 | |
| One Nation | Robert Hicks | 7,568 | 8.01 | +0.57 | |
| Katter's Australian | Daniel Collins | 5,997 | 6.35 | +0.72 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Nicholas Daniels | 5,359 | 5.67 | +5.67 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | Greg Dowling | 2,149 | 2.27 | +1.76 | |
| Family First | Les Searle | 1,796 | 1.90 | +1.90 | |
| Independent | Norman Miller | 1,659 | 1.76 | +1.76 | |
| Libertarian | Lloyd Russell | 942 | 1.00 | +1.00 | |
| Total formal votes | 94,480 | 92.76 | −0.42 | ||
| Informal votes | 7,372 | 7.24 | +0.42 | ||
| Turnout | 101,852 | 82.97 | −1.00 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Matt Smith | 52,967 | 56.06 | +9.50 | |
| Liberal National | Jeremy Neal | 41,513 | 43.94 | −9.50 | |
| Laborgain fromLiberal National | Swing | +9.50 | |||
14°21′25″S143°07′16″E / 14.357°S 143.121°E /-14.357; 143.121