Division of Dickson facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dickson Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Dickson (green) within Queensland
Created	1992
MP	Peter Dutton
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	James Dickson
Electors	94,376 (2013)
Area	722 km2 (278.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer Metropolitan

James Dickson

The Division of Dickson is an area in Queensland, Australia. It is a special area that votes for a person to represent them in the Australian Parliament. This division was created in 1992.

It is named after Sir James Robert Dickson. He was an important person who helped create the country of Australia. He was also the leader of Queensland (called the Premier) and the first Minister for Defence for Australia. The Division of Dickson covers many suburbs in the outer north-western part of Brisbane. These include places like Albany Creek, Arana Hills, Bray Park, and Strathpine.

An Unusual Election in 1993

Something very unusual happened during the 1993 election for Dickson. One of the people running for election, who was not part of a major party, sadly passed away just before the voting day.

Because of this, a new election had to be held for the Dickson area. This happened about a month after the main election for the rest of Australia. The Labor Party won this special election.

The Prime Minister, Paul Keating, chose his new team of ministers on March 27. He left one important job open: the Attorney-General. This job is like the chief legal advisor for the government. He kept it open for Michael Lavarch. Lavarch won the Dickson election and became the Attorney-General on April 27.

Who Has Represented Dickson?

Many different people have been elected to represent the Division of Dickson in Parliament. Here is a list of the members and their political parties:

Michael Lavarch was the first person to represent Dickson. He had also been a member of Parliament for another area called Fisher. He was the Attorney-General in the government led by Paul Keating.

Tony Smith was a member of the Liberal Party. However, his party did not support him for the 1998 election. So, he decided to run as an Independent politician.

Cheryl Kernot was a very well-known politician before she represented Dickson. She used to be a member of the Australian Senate, which is another part of the Australian Parliament. She was also the leader of a political party called the Australian Democrats. She left that party and joined the Labor Party, then won the Dickson election in 1998.

Peter Dutton has been the member for Dickson since 2001. He has held many important jobs in the government. For example, he was a minister when John Howard was Prime Minister. He also served as the Minister for Health and Minister for Sport when Tony Abbott was Prime Minister.

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