How Queensland’s political parties want to see the electoral map redrawn

The news

Queensland’s LNP has called for state seats held by Labor and Katter’s Australian Party to be abolished, with two new seats created in the south-east, in a submission to the body redrawing the electoral map.

The party also suggested several seats be reverted to previous names containing geographical references, and for inner-Brisbane’s Cooper to be redrawn and rebadged as Victoria Park.

All 116 submissions to the Queensland Redistribution Commission, from political parties, interested groups and individuals, were published on Monday as part of a 21-day further feedback period.

In its submission, Labor reiterated concern about the commission’s independence and “somewhat constrained” ability to ensure all votes remain equal without new seats in parliament.

Concern about the growing number of voters in each of the 93 electorates was also raised by the Greens, while Katter’s Australian Party has called for a doubling of the “notional voters” given to the four large western seats and a new weighting for seats containing Indigenous councils.

Why it matters

The legally required redistribution is the first for the state since 2017, when parliament also expanded from 89 to 93 seats. The redrawn map will be used in the 2028 state election.

Redrawing boundaries and abolishing or creating new electorates is meant to keep the number of enrolled voters within 10 per cent of the average.

A total of 14 electorates are outside this range, with some seats featuring thousands more than the roughly 40,000-voter average, and others featuring thousands less.

What they said

LNP state director Ben Riley’s submission calls for the abolition of the KAP-held north Queensland seat of Hill, and Labor-held seat of Toohey in Brisbane’s south.

Along with a new electorate around Caboolture, the LNP has proposed a second called Greenbank in the Logan-Ipswich corridor “where greenfield estates are driving sustained enrolment”.

Riley called on the commission to “reverse” recent changes to several seat names referencing historical figures, rather than geographic locations, while also proposing a redrawn Cooper containing Victoria Park be named after the site for the proposed flagship 2032 Games stadium.

“In every case we have preferred the lightest effective touch, retaining historic seat names wherever possible and making boundary changes only where growth or decline makes them unavoidable,” Riley wrote.

Labor’s acting state secretary Ben Driscoll began the opposition party’s pitch by reiterating concern over the role of Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie’s department head John Sosso on the commission.

“The ALP emphasises the importance of the true and perceived independence of the QRC,” Driscoll wrote, calling on the commission to hold public hearings and help boost public confidence.

He pointed to required consultation under state laws for such an appointment and suggested this could undermine the “subsequent legal validity” of the commission’s ultimate decision.

Greens convenor Gemmia Burden argued the state needed another 20 seats in parliament to take voter averages back down to 2017 levels, and population growth projections would push this to at least 37 seats by 2032.

While agreeing with the LNP that a new seat was needed in the Ipswich-Logan growth corridor, Burden suggested this be centred around Jimboomba in the Logan Valley.

All three parties have acknowledged the need for a new electorate around Caboolture, with differences in the exact boundaries. Other boundary adjustments for various seats have also been suggested. Driscoll did not suggest any current seats be abolished.

Katter’s Australian Party has called for the four seats larger than 100,000 square kilometres – Cook, Traeger, Gregory and Warrego – to have “notional” voters assigned to 4 per cent of that landmass, instead of the current figure of 2 per cent.

Similarly, KAP also proposed electorates spanning Indigenous councils receive a “weighted enrolment” for each based on their “unique and complex challenges for elected members”.

Another perspective

In an overview of the submissions, the commission noted the 116 fielded was almost triple the 41 received for the 2017 redistribution.

The commission highlighted with interest “suggestions that have been reached independently in two or more submissions. In some cases, these commonalities extend to the placement of new electorates and even their names”.

It also noted that the four large regional districts “will require adjustment”, but tweaks to how notional voters are calculated – like the total number of seats – require legislative changes by parliament outside the scope of the commission’s work.

“Of those submissions that addressed district names, either generally or regarding specific electorates, a greater number of submissions preferred district names to be based on geographic locations or landmarks as opposed to significant persons”.

What’s next

Public comments on the submissions are open until September 22, before the commission begins considering these and drafting a proposed redistribution to be released in early 2026.

Objections will then be opened for 30 days, followed by a further public feedback period.

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