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THE POLL BLUDGER SOUTH BRISBANE
South Brisbane has existed in one form or another since the first Queensland election in 1860, and has only ever been lost to Labor amid the exceptional circumstances of the 1929 and 1974 disasters and the 1957 party split, when former Premier and future Democratic Labor Party Senator Vince Gair took it into the Queensland Labor Party fold for three years. Demetrios "Jim" Fouras held the seat from 1977 to 1986 when he lost preselection to Anne Warner before returning as member for Ashgrove in 1989, where he is only now retiring. Warner was succeeded in 1995 by Anna Bligh, whose margins have ranged from 10.7 per cent to 24.9 per cent. In 2004 the Greens were hopeful that their high-profile candidate Juanita Wheeler could overtake the Liberals and score an upset win on their preferences, but she fell short with 20.0 per cent to the Liberal candidate's 24.1 per cent, and in any case Bligh was re-elected with a clear 53.1 per cent majority on the primary vote. ASSESSMENT: Labor retain | |