QUEENSLAND ELECTION 2009

BURLEIGH
Labor 8.8%
Region: Gold Coast
Federal divisions: McPherson/Moncrieff
BRYDEN ELSSMANN
DS4SEQ

CHRISTINE SMITH
Labor (top)

JEREMY FREDERICKS
Family First

MICHAEL HART
Liberal National (bottom)

ANJA LIGHT
Greens

RAY SPERRING
Independent


Burleigh is the second southernmost electorate along the Gold Coast, running from Nobby Beach south to Palm Beach and inland to Burleigh Waters and Andrews. The northern coastal strip of Mermaid Beach and western portion of the electorate at Robina have been transferred to the new seat of Mermaid Beach, removing 2500 voters and increasing the Labor margin by 0.5 per cent. The electorate was created in 1992 as the successor to South Coast, from which Currumbin had been detached in 1989. South Coast was held by National Party colossus Russ Hinze from 1966 until the Fitzgerald inquiry forced his resignation in 1988. It was then retained for the Nationals by Judy Gamin at a by-election despite the odour surrounding the party at the time. Gamin lost the seat at the next year's general election to Liberal candidate Bob Quinn, later to become party leader and member for Robina. The shake-up of electoral boundaries occasioned by the Goss government's one-vote one-value reforms saw the area divided between Merrimac and Burleigh at the 1992 election: Quinn contested the former, and Gamin returned to parliament as member for Burleigh after a narrow win over Labor. Gamin consolidated her position over the next two elections, but was buried by a 10.3 per cent swing in the 2001 landslide. Labor's Christine Smith has done remarkably well to pick up solid swings at the two elections since: 4.0 per cent on the primary and 3.2 per cent on the two-party vote in 2004, and 5.2 per cent and 3.3 per cent in 2006.

Christine Smith's entrée into politics was as secretary and office manager to Senator Mal Colston, whose colourful history does not bear repeating here. Her first encounter with the spotlight came when Colston quit Labor to sit as an independent in 1996, prompting the party to exact revenge by bringing to light irregularities in his travel claims. Smith dutifully agreed to take the blame for what she understood to be “two or three” inconsistencies, only to be presented with a statement accepting responsibility for 31 wrongful claims amounting to $5,730. When Clerk of the Senate Harry Evans advised her that misleading the Senate was an offence punishable by imprisonment, Smith made another statement recanting all blame. Smith subsequently landed a job with Centrelink, where she was still working when offered the then uncoveted role of Labor candidate for Burleigh. She also sought her old job back when Colston's term ended in 1999 but says she was rejected by his successor, Australian Workers Union chieftain Joe Ludwig, on the grounds that his father Bill Ludwig was friends with Colston. This prompted Smith to quit the AWU-dominated Labor Forum faction, and she is now aligned with Labor Unity.

The Liberal National Party has nominated Michael Hart, who was the Liberal candidate in 2006. Hart is the owner of the Burleigh Heads business Mastercut Technologies and a figure in the local surf lifesaving movement.

Lawrence Springborg took a major gamble in the third week of the campaign when he refused to match Labor's $60 million commitment to an upgrade of Carrara Stadium, located in Gaven. Labor had trouble of its own when Anna Bligh announced the project earlier in the week: whereas the consortium was shooting for entry at the 2011 season, Labor initially circulated a statement putting it at 2012, and a funding timetable showed the final instalment scheduled for 2012-13. Springborg's prompt declaration that the measure was too expensive provoked outrage from the Gold Coast Bulletin, which had earlier taken a stick to the LNP over a tourism package that promised equal funding to the Gold Coast and Mount Isa. Labor linked Springborg's position to litigious LNP benefactor Clive Palmer, who owns a potential competitor in the Gold Coast United soccer team. Springborg made a late withdrawal from a Chamber of Commerce luncheon the following day, at which he seemed likely to face a frosty reception. The official reason was that Springborg did not wish to share equal billing with Deputy Premier Paul Lucas in the absence of Anna Bligh, but Sue Lappeman of the Gold Coast Bulletin reported that organisers “always warned that Ms Bligh had not accepted the invitation and was unlikely to attend”.

The showpiece of the $700 million capital works program promised at the LNP launch on the Sunday before the election was a $260 million contribution to a Gold Coast rapid transit project. This will provide a light rail link from Helensvale through the Griffith University campus to Southport, and thence to Surfers Paradise, Broadbeach, Miami, Burleigh Heads and Coolangatta. Andrew Fraser of The Australian reported that “while the Gold Coast City Council has committed $120 million to the proposal, it depends on $380 million from the federal Government – money that has not been confirmed”. Earlier in the campaign, the Courier-Mail reported that Springborg “seemed unaware of the details” when alerted to a press release from Shadow Transport Minister Fiona Simpson stating $1.8 million would be spent on local traffic congestion on the M1.

In the second week of the campaign, Sue Lappeman reported that internal polling seen by the Gold Coast Bulletin indicated Labor was “safe” in Burleigh.

PREDICTION: Labor retain