Division of Groom

Groom
Australian House of Representatives Division
Groom; Australian House of Representatives Division
	Interactive map of boundaries since the 2019 federal election
Created	1984
MP	Garth Hamilton
Party	Liberal
Namesake	Sir Littleton Groom
Electors	110,932 (2022)
Area	5,586 km2 (2,156.8 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

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

Groom is an agricultural electorate located on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland. It includes the regional city of Toowoomba and rural communities to the west and south.^[1]

The current MP is Garth Hamilton, a member of the Liberal Party.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.^[2]

History

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.

Groom's electors have historically been socially conservative. In 2017, it was one of only three electorates in Queensland to vote against the Marriage Survey. However, sentiment is shifting. The 2022 federal election showed a strong increase in votes for independent candidates, with the two-candidate preferred result indicating local independent candidate, Suzie Holt, securing 41.33% of the vote, following distribution of preferences. Issues such as the cost of living and housing affordability are current priorities among voters. The local Liberal MP, Garth Hamilton, has consistenly voted against housing affordability. Mr Hamilton voted against the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023, the Build to Rent program 2024, and the Help to Buy Bill 2023. Mr Hamilton has also voted against increasing funding for university education, which has negatively impacted the local University of Southern Queensland, and its students. Mr Hamilton also voted against making TAFE education fee-free, negatively impacting education, trades, and skill development in the Toowoomba region. https://theyvoteforyou.org.au/people/representatives/groom/garth_hamilton

Members

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

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Groom^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Garth Hamilton	41,971	43.72	−9.62
	Labor	Gen Allpass	17,985	18.73	+0.07
	One Nation	Grant Abraham	9,181	9.56	−3.53
	Independent	Suzie Holt	7,932	8.26	+8.26
	Independent	Kirstie Smolenski	6,858	7.14	+7.14
	Greens	Mickey Berry	5,616	5.85	−2.11
	United Australia	Melissa Bannister	4,922	5.13	+1.17
	Federation	Ryan Otto	1,539	1.60	+1.60
Total formal votes			96,004	95.28	−1.52
Informal votes			4,758	4.72	+1.52
Turnout			100,762	90.88	−2.17
Notional two-party-preferred count
	Liberal National	Garth Hamilton	61,610	64.17	−6.31
	Labor	Gen Allpass	34,394	35.83	+6.31
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Liberal National	Garth Hamilton	54,612	56.89	N/A
	Independent	Suzie Holt	41,392	43.11	N/A
	Liberal National hold

Primary vote results in Groom (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)

Liberal National

Liberal

National

Labor

Greens

Family First

Australian Democrats

One Nation

Palmer United/United Australia Party

Sustainable Australia

Liberal Democrats

Nick Xenophon Team

Confederate Action

Independent

Two-candidate-preferred vote results in Groom

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c Member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland sitting with the federal parliamentary Liberal Party.

References

^ "Groom - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
^ Groom, QLD, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Division of Groom (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission

27°29′02″S 151°39′11″E / 27.484°S 151.653°E / -27.484; 151.653

[lnp-1] Member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland sitting with the federal parliamentary Liberal Party.

[2] "Groom - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

[3] Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

[4] Groom, QLD, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

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