Division of Dawson

Dawson Australian House of Representatives Division
300px Division of Dawson (green) within Queensland
Created	1949
MP	George Christensen
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Anderson Dawson
Electors	98,171 (2013)
Area	14,945 km2 (5,770.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Dawson is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1949 and is named after Anderson Dawson, the first Labor Premier of Queensland and leader of the first parliamentary socialist government anywhere in the world. It is located on the North Queensland coast, taking in the towns of Ayr, Bowen, Mackay, Proserpine and some south-eastern suburbs of the city of Townsville.

Apart from a period between 1966 to 1975 and 2007 to 2010, it has been held by the National Party. While Mackay, the largest city wholly within the electorate, is a longstanding Labor stronghold, it is not enough to overcome the region's overall conservative bent.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Charles Davidson	Country	1949–1963
	George Shaw	Country	1963–1966
	Rex Patterson	Labor	1966–1975
	Ray Braithwaite	National	1975–1996
	De-Anne Kelly	National	1996–2007
	James Bidgood	Labor	2007–2010
	George Christensen	Liberal National	2010–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Dawson

Australian federal election, 2013: Dawson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	George Christensen	40,507	46.23	+0.49
	Labor	Bronwyn Taha	26,030	29.71	−10.33
	Palmer United	Ian Ferguson	8,777	10.02	+10.02
	Katter's Australian	Justin Englert	5,905	6.74	+6.74
	Greens	Jonathon Dykyj	4,396	5.02	−2.70
	Family First	Lindsay Temple	1,663	1.90	−3.04
	CEC	Andrew Harris	345	0.39	−1.16
Total formal votes			87,623	95.15	+0.91
Informal votes			4,463	4.85	−0.91
Turnout			92,086	93.80	+0.69
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	George Christensen	50,451	57.58	+5.15
	Labor	Bronwyn Taha	37,172	42.42	−5.15
	Liberal National hold		Swing	+5.15

External links

• Division of Dawson (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission