Lockyer

Rural Southern Queensland

Very Safe LNP 18.8%

MP

Ian Rickuss (LNP) since 2004.

Profile

Lockyer covers the rural areas between Toowoomba and Ipswich, taking in Grandchester, Laidley, Gatton and Helidon. The electorate also has a panhandle that stretches east on the southern side of Ipswich as far as Greenbank. Covers 3,148 square kilometres. (Map)

Background

Lockyer was held by former Liberal Leader Sir Gordon Chalk from 1950 until 1976. Chalk served as Premier in 1968 for the week between the death of Jack Pizzey and the surprising elevation of the little known Joh Bjelke-Petersen as new Premier.



Lockyer left the Liberal Party fold at the 1980 election, won by the National Party's Tony Fitzgerald, who held the seat until defeated by the One Nation juggernaut in 1998. Even with Labor Party preferences, Fitzgerald was unable to hold off the challenge from One Nation's Peter Prenzler. The National Party primary vote fell by more than 40% in 1998 and plummeted further in 2001 as the National Party finished a dreadful fourth, polling behind both One Nation and the City Country Alliance.



Local vet Peter Prenzler had won Lockyer for One Nation in 1998, but like all of his colleagues, he left the party and contested the 2001 election as Deputy Leader of the City Country Alliance. He was defeated by the new One Nation candidate Bill Flynn, defeating Labor on National Party and City Country Alliance preferences.



Traditional political patterns began to re-emerge in 2004 as Flynn was defeated. The first preference vote of National Party candidate Ian Rickuss was only 34.8%, but he led Labor on the primary votes and was far enough ahead to skate home on the preferences of One Nation.



Rickuss was re-elected in 2006 and 2009 and easily withstood a challenge from Katter's Australian Party in 2012.

Past Election Results

Year Winning Party 1950 LIB 1953 LIB 1956 LIB 1957 LIB 1960 LIB 1963 LIB 1966 LIB 1969 LIB 1972 LIB 1974 LIB 1976By LIB 1977 LIB 1980 NAT 1983 NAT 1986 NAT 1989 NAT 1992 NAT 1995 NAT 1998 ONP 2001 ONP 2004 NAT 2006 NAT 2009 LNP 2012 LNP

Coloured tab indicates seat won by a party forming government

Notes on Margin

Lockyer is shown with an estimated LNP 2-party preferred margin of 18.8% versus Labor. The actual LNP margin derived from the 2012 distribution of preferences is 14.9% in a contest against Katter's Australian Party.

2015 Ballot Paper (6 Candidates) Party Australian Labor Party LNP The Greens Katter's Australian Party One Nation Palmer United Party

Steve Leese Australian Labor Party 40 year-old Leese lives in Regency Downs with his wife and teenage daughter. He worked a number of jobs while putting himself through university to become a Special Education Teacher, and he currently teaches students with disabilities at an Ipswich school. Website

Ian Rickuss LNP Aged 60, Rickuss was a local farmer and a businessman before his election to Parliament in 2004, and had variously been involved in his local community as an industry representative, in Landcare, in sporting organisations and in his local church. Rickuss farms at Glenore Grove and specialises in intensive horticultural production, and is a former Chairman of the Potato Industry Council of Australia. Website

Clare Rudkin The Greens Rudkin has lived in Lockyer area since 1998, working at the Gatton campus of the University of Queensland. She has been involved in the poultry industry since she first started studying the behaviour and welfare of laying hens in 1999. Rudkin has previously contested three state elections, contesting Chatsworth in 1998, Ipswich in 2004 and Lockyer in 2012, and was the Green candidate for Blair at the 2013 federal election. Website

David Neuendorf Katter's Australian Party Neuendorf has been a resident of the Lockyer for over five decades and is a third generation primary producer. He is a former Gatton Shire councillor 2000-08 and served on Lockyer Valley Council 2008-12. This is Neuendorf's third contest for Katter's Australian Party, finishing second in this seat at the 2012 state election, and contesting the local seat of Wright at the 2013 federal election. Website

Pauline Hanson One Nation Pauline Hanson became a phenomena in 1996 when the then little known Ipswich fish and chip shop proprietor made unflattering remarks about aborigines and was disendorsed as the Liberal candidate for Oxley. Despite losing endorsement (she still appeared on the ballot paper as a Liberal), Hanson achieved the country's largest swing to win the seat, and went on to be the figurehead of her own political Party, One Nation. With Oxley divided by a redistribution before the 1998 election, in 1998 Hanson contested the new seat of Blair. She polled the highest primary votes, but was defeated when Labor preferences elected the Liberal candidate. She was unsuccessful as a One Nation candidate for the Queensland Senate in 2001, and showed her continuing pulling power at the 2004 Senate election in Queensland despite standing as an Independent without the advantage of a party name appearing above the line. Her group polled 4.54% of the vote, enough to gain public funding. Her group polled 102,824 votes, a record 37,888 of them below the line with a Number '1' for her, and the required number of preferences to make the vote formal. As a result of this vote, she received just under $200,000 dollars in public funding. She did it again in 2007, again polling over 4% of the vote for her Pauline's United Australia Party, obtaining $213,000 in public funding. She contested the NSW Legislative Council in 2003, came close to victory at her second attempt in 2011, ran for the NSW Senate at the 2013 federal election, and polled 21.2% as an independent in neighbouring Beaudesert at the 2009 state election. Now she returns to Queensland politics for her old party, One Nation. Website

Craig Gunnis Palmer United Party Gunnis has had a long career in the prestige car industry as well as extensive small business experience. He has been the manager of Clive Palmers Sunshine Coast car museum since the end of 2012. Gunnis was the Palmer United Party candidate for Ryan at the 2013 federal election. Website