QUEENSLAND ELECTION 2009

MUNDINGBURRA Labor 11.0%
Region: Southern Townsville Federal division: Herbert
	JENNY BROWN Greens LINDY NELSON-CARR Labor (top) AMANDA DICKSON Family First FRANCIS PAULER Independent COLIN DWYER Liberal National (bottom)

Mundingburra covers the suburbs south of the Townsville business district, from Mundingburra itself west to Heatley and Douglas. The redistribution has added 3300 voters at Kirwan from Thuringowa in the west, adding 0.6 per cent to the Labor margin. Mundingburra entered electoral folklore when the Supreme Court overturned Labor's narrow win in 1995 and ordered a new election on the grounds that votes from service personnel had been incorrectly disqualified. Sitting member Ken Davies, who had won the seat on its creation 1992, was replaced as Labor candidate during the campaign by Townsville mayor Tony Mooney, as he was facing legal action which had the potential to bankrupt him. The resulting by-election on 3 February 1996 was won by Liberal candidate Frank Tanti, which deprived Wayne Goss his one-seat majority and allowed Nationals leader Rob Borbidge to form a minority government.

School teacher Lindy Nelson-Carr recovered the seat for Labor in 1998 and added a further 9.0 per cent to the margin in 2001, before facing a 5.2 per cent correction in 2004. She was made a parliamentary secretary in 2001 before winning promotion to cabinet after the 2006 election as Environment and Multiculturalism Minister. When Peter Beattie departed in September 2007 she exchanged environment for a number of portfolios including communities, disability services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partnerships. Nelson-Carr is reportedly a figure of growing influence within her Socialist Left faction, which was seen to be demonstrated in Mandy Johnstone's win over former mayor Tony Mooney in the Townsville preselection.

PREDICTION: Labor retain