Created 1949 Electors 109,096 (2016) Founded 1949 Elector 109,096 | Demographic Rural | |
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Area 148,988 km (57,524.6 sq mi) Party Liberal National Party of Queensland | ||
The Division of Leichhardt is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was first contested in 1949 after the expansion of seats in the Parliament of Australia. It is one of Australia's largest electorates, covering an area stretching from Cairns to Cape York and the Torres Strait, including the Torres Strait Islands.
The division is named after Ludwig Leichhardt, an explorer and scientist. The area was first covered by the seat of Herbert from 1901 to 1934 and then by the seat of Kennedy until 1949.
Most of the electorate is almost uninhabited except for small Aboriginal communities, but the extreme southeast, consisting of the northern half of the Wet Tropics, with rich volcanic soils instead of the extraordinarily infertile lateritic sands and gravels of Cape York proper, is quite densely populated and includes urban Cairns. There are small, intensive sugar cane, banana and mango farms in this region, though they are prone to damage from droughts and cyclones.
The seat of Leichhardt was a bellwether seat from the 1972 election until the 2010 election. Additionally, 2010 represented the first time that Labor was in government without the seat of Leichhardt.
Ahead of the 2016 federal election, ABC psephologist Antony Green listed the seat in his election guide as one of eleven which he classed as "bellwether" electorates.