THE POLL BLUDGER
Queensland Legislative Assembly Election 2006

MAROOCHYDORE
Nationals 4.1%

RegionSunshine Coast
FederalFairfax/Fisher
CandidatesFiona Simpson (Nationals)
K.C. Robinson (Greens)
Debbie Blumel (Labor)
Max Phillips (Independent)
Click here for PDF map at Parliament House site

Maroochydore covers a stretch of the Sunshine Coast south of Noosa, from Mount Coolum to Mooloolaba and inland to Forest Glen. The electorate was created at the 1992 election mostly from territory in the abolished seat of Cooroora, which the National/Country Party held from the party's creation in 1922 until it was dumped from office in 1989. The new seat had a small National Party majority based on 1989 booth figures and it was won for them by Fiona Simpson, the 27-year-old daughter of long-serving Cooroora MP Gordon Simpson. Fiona Simpson went on to inflate her 4.1 per cent margin to 12.3 per cent in 1995 and retained enough of her primary vote in 1998 to stay secure from One Nation. The tidal wave of 2001 very nearly dumped her, but One Nation preferences helped her survive by 0.8 per cent. She had a slightly more comfortable time at the 2004 election, picking up a 3.3 per cent two-party swing.

Simpson has won headlines over the years for proclaiming her virginity in her maiden speech, calling for castration and public floggings for rapists and violent criminals and describing the Goss government as "a toad to the radical homosexual lobby". She was overlooked for the ministry during the short life of the Borbidge government, but has covered a bewildering range of shadow portfolios since: health, tourism, urban affairs, state development, small business, information technology, innovation and industrial relations. As of the reshuffle that followed Bob Quinn's dumping as Liberal leader on August 7, her responsibilities are transport, main roads and women's policy. After the 2004 election she tried and failed to displace Callide MP Jeff Seeney as deputy Nationals leader. Labor's candidate for the second successive election is Debbie Blumel (right), who according to the party website has "worked for most of her career as a service provider and as a senior manager in the health industry".

ASSESSMENT: Nationals retain