Division of Forde

For the Canberra suburb, see Forde, Australian Capital Territory.

Forde Australian House of Representatives Division
300px Division of Forde (green) within Queensland
Created	1984
MP	Bert Van Manen
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Frank Forde
Electors	88,346 (2013)
Area	419 km2 (161.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer Metropolitan

The Division of Forde is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1984 and is named after Frank Forde, who was briefly Prime Minister of Australia in 1945. When it was created it was a marginal seat in the southern suburbs of Brisbane, but it now has no territory in common with the original seat and is located in exurban and semi-rural areas south of the city, including Beenleigh and Loganlea.

It was a fairly safe seat for the Liberal Party after the 2004 election. Kay Elson announced that she would not re-contest her seat in the 2007 election. Wendy Creighton, a Boonah resident and editor of the local newspaper, the Fassifern Guardian, contested Forde as the Liberal candidate instead. She was defeated at the Federal election by Brett Raguse, the opposing Labor Party candidate, making Forde the safest Liberal Party seat to be claimed by the Labor Party at the 2007 election.

On 8 August 2013, it was announced former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie would contest the seat of Forde at the 2013 election, replacing Des Hardman as the ALP candidate.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	David Watson	Liberal	1984–1987
	Mary Crawford	Labor	1987–1996
	Kay Elson	Liberal	1996–2007
	Brett Raguse	Labor	2007–2010
	Bert van Manen	Liberal National	2010–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Forde

Australian federal election, 2013: Forde

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Bert Van Manen	32,271	42.54	−1.54
	Labor	Peter Beattie	25,794	34.00	−3.39
	Palmer United	Blair Brewster	9,445	12.45	+12.45
	Greens	Sally Spain	3,162	4.17	−8.05
	Family First	Amanda Best	1,701	2.24	−4.08
	Katter's Australian	Paul Hunter	1,652	2.18	+2.18
	Rise Up Australia	Jonathan Jennings	745	0.98	+0.98
	Independent	Joshua Sloss	698	0.92	+0.92
	Australian Voice	Keith Douglas	262	0.35	+0.35
	CEC	Jan Pukallus	130	0.17	+0.17
Total formal votes			75,860	92.73	−0.14
Informal votes			5,948	7.27	+0.14
Turnout			81,808	92.60	+0.94
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Bert Van Manen	41,256	54.38	+2.75
	Labor	Peter Beattie	34,604	45.62	−2.75
	Liberal National hold		Swing	+2.75

External links

• Division of Forde (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission