Peter Dutton has conceded his 24-year hold on the Brisbane seat of Dickson, in a gracious speech that noted the electorate had a “one-term curse” before he entered parliament in 2001.
Dutton said he had called the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and his challenger in Dickson, Ali France, who he said would “do a good job” as a local member.
France, an amputee, lost her son Henry to leukaemia last year.
“No parent should ever go through that,” Dutton said.
“Equally I said to Ali that her son Henry would be incredibly proud of her tonight and she will do a good job as the local member for Dickson and I wish her all the very best.”
Dutton won Dickson at the “Tampa election” in 2001 and has held it through heavy swings in both directions and some very narrow results. In 2007 he held on by just 200 votes. He had been expected to lose in 2010 but increased his margin.
The seat was targeted heavily by GetUp in 2019 but, even when polls pointed to a loss, Dutton has found a way to hold on. Such was the story in Dickson that his loss, amid a heavy swing to Labor, still came as a shock.
“He’s held it for 24 years!” one attendee at the Coalition election function said, as the ABC called the electorate for France.
“Yes but it’s just the ABC,” said another.
By then, many of those in the room had tuned out of the election coverage.
Few were paying attention when Sky News called the election for Labor. Soon after the ABC television feed was cut, replaced by a Liberal party logo and a couple of Australian flags.
Many of those in the room on election night had been out volunteering for Trevor Evans, a moderate former MP and a popular figure among “small l” liberal wing of the Queensland party.
Evans has now lost 24% from his primary vote at consecutive elections. The party faithful who trudged from the booths in Brisbane to the city’s W Hotel turned up glum and many quickly turned away from the TV screens.
One Liberal National party source said the party had “put resources into the wrong contests”.
“We had a big effort out for Trevor [Evans] and [Ryan candidate] Maggie Forrest thinking we could win there, but in the end we should have been putting resources in Petrie and Bowman. I think maybe, given the state result, we just didn’t really think that this sort of swing could be on.”
Seven months ago, many of the same Queensland Liberal National party faithful stood in the same room, raucously cheering a state election victory.
Such is the unpredictable nature of Queensland politics, a state where folks have a tendency to spray their votes around. Beautiful one day. Abject the next.
In October, every LNP win was cheered. On Saturday, lost seats barely registered as small groups conducted their own inquests or took solace in Greens losses, or just decided to forget about politics altogether and talk about something else.
Dutton’s arrival brought out the brave faces. In the back of the room, some still turned their attention to the results. As Dutton was speaking, one party member pulled out his phone and began to scroll the footy scores. At least the NRL magic round – being held walking distance away in Brisbane – offered some hope of a better result.
