THE POLL BLUDGER
Queensland Legislative Assembly Election 2006

MIRANI
Nationals 10.6%

Mirani covers 200 kilometres of the Central Coast from the southern part of Mackay south to Shoalwater Creek, and extends a similar distance inland in the north. Labor polls reasonably well at the Mackay end, but this is drowned out by an overwhelming Nationals vote in the smaller rural booths. The seat has has had just six members since its creation in 1912, the only Labor member being Ted Walsh (1935 to 1947, later member for Bundaberg). It has been in National/Country Party hands since 1949, although there was little fat on the margin in 1998 and 2001. The seat became safe again at the 2004 election, when the decline of One Nation made room for a 16.4 per cent increase in the Nationals primary vote. The member since a by-election in 1994 has been Ted Malone (left),, who was promoted to the front bench after the 1998 election defeat and has covered a number of portfolios since, assuming emergency services when the coalition agreement was struck in November 2005. Labor's website doesn't give much away about its candidate Deb Green (right), who "works for the state public service".

ASSESSMENT: Nationals retain