Division of Maranoa facts for kids

The Division of Maranoa is an area in Queensland, Australia, that elects a person to represent it in the Australian Parliament. It is one of the many special areas called "electoral divisions" across the country.

Maranoa covers a huge part of the Outback in southern Queensland. It is the largest electoral division in Queensland. It is also the fifth largest federal division in all of Australia. This area is known for generally supporting certain political parties. In the federal elections of 2016, 2019, and 2025, the Pauline Hanson's One Nation party often received more votes than the Labor Party after all votes were counted.

Maranoa is a very strong area of support for the Liberal National Party of Queensland. The person who represents Maranoa in Parliament today is David Littleproud. He was once the Minister of Agriculture. He is also the current leader of the National Party.

About the Maranoa Electorate

Where is Maranoa?

The boundaries of electoral divisions in Australia are reviewed regularly. This is done by a special committee from the Australian Electoral Commission. These reviews happen about every seven years. They make sure that each division has a fair number of voters. This helps ensure that everyone's vote counts equally.

The Maranoa division was created in 1900. It was one of the first 65 divisions to take part in Australia's very first federal election in 1901. The division gets its name from the Maranoa River, which flows through the area. Maranoa is mostly a rural area in the southwestern part of Queensland. Some of the towns you can find in Maranoa include Charleville, Cunnamulla, Dalby, Roma, Kingaroy, Stanthorpe, Winton, and Warwick.

Maranoa's Political Journey

The Maranoa River, which gave the division its name.

Maranoa is known as a very safe seat for The Nationals. This means that the Nationals party usually wins elections here by a large margin. It was the first seat in Queensland that this party won. Even though it was first a strong seat for the Labor Party, the Nationals (and their earlier name, the Country Party) have held it for almost all the time since a special election in 1921. They have held it without interruption since 1943. In 1943, the Country Party won Maranoa even when the Labor Party won by a lot across the country.

Maranoa is currently one of the safest seats for the Liberal National Party. David Littleproud wins by a large margin against other parties. As of 2022, Maranoa was the only federal seat that the government won from the Labor Party in a special election in over 100 years.

Key Referendums in Maranoa

The former Prime Minister, John Howard, once called the seat the 'Kingdom of Maranoa'. This was after it had the highest 'No' vote in the 1999 public vote (called a referendum) about Australia becoming a republic. The Member of Parliament for Maranoa at the time, Bruce Scott, believed this was because the voters were "well informed". Many years later, in the Indigenous Voice referendum of 2023, the seat again had the highest 'No' vote. This led to it being nicknamed 'The No Capital of Australia'.

People Who Represented Maranoa

Here is a list of the people who have represented the Division of Maranoa in the Australian Parliament:

Images for kids

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  James Page, the first MP for Maranoa

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  James Hunter, a Country Party MP

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  Frank Baker, a Labor MP

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  Charles Adermann, who later moved to another division

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  Charles Russell, who also served as an Independent

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  Wilfred Brimblecombe, a long-serving Country Party MP

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  James Corbett, who represented Maranoa for many years

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  Bruce Scott, a long-serving Nationals MP

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  David Littleproud, the current MP for Maranoa