| Federal: | yes |
| Wide Bay | |
| Created: | 1901 |
| Mp: | Llew O'Brien |
| Mp-Party: | National |
| Namesake: | Wide Bay, Queensland |
| Electors: | 115420 |
| Electors Year: | 2022 |
| Area: | 14227 |
| Class: | Rural and provincial |
The Division of Wide Bay is an Australian electoral division in the state of Queensland. The current MP is Llew O'Brien of the National Party.
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[1]
The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. Wide Bay is located in south east Queensland and includes the cities of Maryborough, Gympie, Noosa, all of Fraser Island, and inland areas extending west to Murgon.
Notable representatives have included three time Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, who was the seat's first member. However, it has been a conservative seat for most of its history; only one other Labor member has ever won it. Warren Truss, former leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, held the seat from 1990 to 2016.
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Fisher | Labor | nowrap | 30 March 1901 – 26 October 1915 | Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Gympie. Served as minister under Watson. Served as Opposition Leader from 1909 to 1910, and from 1913 to 1914. Served as Prime Minister from 1908 to 1909, 1910 to 1913 and 1914 to 1915. Resigned to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom | |||
| Edward Corser | Liberal | nowrap | 11 December 1915 – 17 February 1917 | Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Maryborough. Died in office. Son was Bernard Corser | |||
| nowrap | Nationalist | nowrap | 17 February 1917 – 31 July 1928 | ||||
| Bernard Corser | Country | nowrap | 3 September 1928 – 21 April 1954 | Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Burnett. Retired. Father was Edward Corser | |||
| William Brand | nowrap | 29 May 1954 – 14 October 1958 | Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Isis. Retired | ||||
| Henry Bandidt | nowrap | 22 November 1958 – 9 December 1961 | Lost seat | ||||
| Brendan Hansen | Labor | nowrap | 9 December 1961 – 18 May 1974 | Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Whitlam. Lost seat. Later elected to the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Maryborough in 1977 | |||
| Clarrie Millar | Country | nowrap | 18 May 1974 – 2 May 1975 | Retired | |||
| National Country | nowrap | 2 May 1975 – 16 October 1982 | |||||
| Nationals | nowrap | 16 October 1982 – 19 February 1990 | |||||
| Warren Truss | nowrap | 24 March 1990 – 9 May 2016 | Served as minister under Howard, Abbott and Turnbull. Served as Deputy Prime Minister under Abbott and Turnbull. Retired | ||||
| Llew O'Brien | nowrap | 2 July 2016 – 10 February 2020 | Incumbent | ||||
| Liberal National | nowrap | 10 February 2020 – 7 December 2020 | |||||
| National | nowrap | 7 December 2020 – present |
See main article: Electoral results for the Division of Wide Bay.