Division of Kennedy

Kennedy Australian House of Representatives Division
300px Division of Kennedy (green) within Queensland
Created	1901
MP	Bob Katter
Party	Australian
Namesake	Edmund Kennedy
Electors	96,394 (2013)
Area	568,993 km2 (219,689.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Kennedy is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. The division is named after Edmund Kennedy, an explorer in the area where the division is located in Queensland.

The member since 1993 is Bob Katter, Jr., the leader of Katter's Australian Party. He was previously elected as a member of the National Party, but became an independent in 2001 before forming his own party in 2011.

Geographically, the electorate is rural. It takes in the Pacific coast of Queensland between Cairns and Townsville, including a small portion of Cairns itself, before sweeping westward to take in most of Queensland's northern outback--a large, increasingly sparsely populated area stretching west to the border with the Northern Territory. The largest population centre in the electorate is the city of Mount Isa, in its far west. Until 1949, it was even larger, encompassing most of the state north of Townsville. However, much of its northern portion, including the Cairns area, became the Division of Leichhardt in 1949.

Kennedy was held by the Australian Labor Party for most of the first half of the 20th century. From Federation until 1966, Labor held it for all but two terms. However, since 1966 it has been held by the conservative Katter family—Bob Sr. and his son, Bob, Jr.—for all but one term. It has long since shaken off its Labor past, and is now considered one of the most conservative electorates in Australia.

Besides the Katters, other prominent members include Charles McDonald, the first Labor Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, and Bill Riordan, a minister in the Chifley government.

At the 2013 election, sitting member Bob, Jr. faced his first serious contest in two decades. He'd gone into the election holding Kennedy with a margin of 18 percent, making Kennedy the second-safest seat in Australia. However, Liberal National candidate Noeline Ikin was well ahead on the primary vote by 10,000 votes. Katter narrowly pulled through and won another term on Labor preferences. However, he suffered a swing of 17 percent, reducing his majority to only 2.19 percent.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Charles McDonald	Labor	1901–1925
	Grosvenor Francis	Nationalist	1925–1929
	Darby Riordan	Labor	1929–1936
	Bill Riordan	Labor	1936–1966
	Bob Katter, Sr.	Country	1966–1975
		National Country	1975–1982
		National	1982–1990
	Rob Hulls	Labor	1990–1993
	Bob Katter, Jr.	National	1993–2001
		Independent	2001–2011
		Australian	2011–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Kennedy

Australian federal election, 2013: Kennedy

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Noeline Ikin	34,344	40.84	+14.24
	Katter's Australian	Bob Katter	24,691	29.36	−17.35
	Labor	Andrew Turnour	13,777	16.38	−3.83
	Palmer United	George Brazier	6,419	7.63	+7.63
	Greens	Jenny Stirling	2,727	3.24	−1.25
	Family First	Dan Vogler	1,064	1.27	−0.73
	Independent	Chester Tuxford	571	0.68	+0.68
	Rise Up Australia	Pam Hecht	508	0.60	+0.60
Total formal votes			84,101	94.57	−0.05
Informal votes			4,828	5.43	+0.05
Turnout			88,929	92.26	+0.81
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Noeline Ikin	56,476	67.15	+5.21
	Labor	Andrew Turnour	27,625	32.85	−5.21
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Katter's Australian	Bob Katter	43,896	52.19	−16.15
	Liberal National	Noeline Ikin	40,205	47.81	+16.15
	Katter's Australian hold		Swing	−16.15

External links

• Division of Kennedy (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission