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THE POLL BLUDGER KENNEDY
The seat was one of 16 won by Labor at the first election in 1901 (out of a total of 75), and remained with the party until Nationalist candidate Grosvenor Francis was elected unopposed after sitting member Charles McDonald died during the 1925 election campaign (prompting the change to the Electoral Act providing for polls to be cancelled when candidates died). Francis retained the seat at the 1928 election, but it returned to Labor when Jim Scullin's government came to power in 1929. The next change came in 1966 when the national anti-Labor swing combined with the loss of retiring veteran William Riordan's personal vote to deliver a narrow victory to the Country Party candidate, Bob Katter Sr. While the 1969 redistribution strengthened the Country Party by adding Charters Towers and removing Bowen, it was Katter's personal popularity that saw the Country Party margin increase at each of the next five elections. The 1984 redistribution was less kind to Katter, pushing the seat into the southern reaches of Cape York Peninsula and returning the seat to the marginal zone. The seat returned to Labor for one term when Katter retired in 1990, the winning member being Rob Hulls, later to return to politics as a senior figure in the Victorian government. It returned to both the National Party and Katter family fold with Bob Katter Jr's victory in 1993, which was cemented by a double-digit swing in 1996. Katter's primary vote increased further after he parted company with the Nationals ahead of the 2001 election, and he recorded another strong performance in 2004. As always, there is much speculation going into the election about which party Katter might support if he holds the balance of power. In mid-September, Katter declared he would “support the party that promises to mandate 10 per cent ethanol in petrol”. One suspects there will be more than one such party, if that's what it comes to. | |