Division of Groom

The Division of Groom is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland.

Groom Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Groom in Queensland, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created	1984
MP	Garth Hamilton
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Sir Littleton Groom
Electors	105,984 (2019)
Area	5,586 km^2 (2,156.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

History

Sir Littleton Groom, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 as essentially a reconfigured version of the old Division of Darling Downs, which had existed since Federation. It is named in honour of Sir Littleton Groom, who represented Darling Downs with only one short break from 1901 to 1936 and served as Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives.

It is located in the rural areas west of Brisbane and is centred on the city of Toowoomba, Australia's second largest inland city. Other centres include Oakey and Pittsworth.

The seat has never elected a Labor member in either of its incarnations as Darling Downs or Groom. While Toowoomba itself (particularly, the northern suburbs) occasionally votes for Labor, it is nowhere near enough to overcome the conservative bent of the rural areas.

2020 Groom by-election

Members

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Tom McVeigh (1930–)	Nationals	1 December 1984 – 29 February 1988	Previously held the Division of Darling Downs. Resigned in order to retire from politics. Son is John McVeigh
		Bill Taylor (1938–)	Liberal	9 April 1988 – 31 August 1998	Retired
		Ian Macfarlane (1955–)	Liberal	3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010	Served as minister under Howard and Abbott. Retired
			Liberal National	19 July 2010 – 9 May 2016
		John McVeigh (1965–)	Liberal National	2 July 2016 – 18 September 2020	Previously held the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Toowoomba South. Served as minister under Turnbull. Resigned in order to retire from politics. Father is Tom McVeigh
		Garth Hamilton (1979–)	Liberal National	28 November 2020 – present	Incumbent

Election results

2020 Groom by-election[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Garth Hamilton	51,534	59.83	+6.49
	Labor	Chris Meibusch	23,500	27.28	+8.62
	Sustainable Australia	Sandra Jephcott	6,716	7.80	+7.80
	Liberal Democrats	Craig Farquharson	4,391	5.10	+5.10
Total formal votes			86,141	97.18	+0.38
Informal votes			2,504	2.82	−0.38
Turnout			88,645	81.66	−11.38
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Garth Hamilton	57,875	67.19	−3.29
	Labor	Chris Meibusch	28,266	32.81	+3.29
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−3.29

References

1. "Tally Room: 2020 Groom By-election". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 25 December 2020.

External links

• Division of Groom (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission