Division of Dickson

Dickson Australian House of Representatives Division
Interactive map of boundaries since the 2019 federal election
Created	1992
MP	Ali France
Party	Labor
Namesake	Sir James Dickson
Electors	112,857 (2022)
Area	724 km2 (279.5 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer metropolitan

The Division of Dickson is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The incumbent MP is Ali France. A member of the Labor Party, she defeated incumbent MP and Liberal Party Leader Peter Dutton in the 2025 federal election.

Dickson includes the suburbs of Kurwongbah, Petrie, Strathpine, Bunya, Arana Hills, Albany Creek, Eatons Hill, Samford, Samford Valley, Dayboro, McDowall, Ferny Hills, Everton Hills and Murrumba Downs. The electorate also includes Lake Samsonvale and Lake Kurwongbah and covers 724 square kilometres.

History

Sir James Dickson, the division's namesake

The division was formed in 1992 and is named after Sir James Dickson, a leading advocate in Australian Federation, Premier of Queensland and Minister for Defence in the first Australian ministry.

1993 election

There was an unusual circumstance at the 1993 election. The seat had been carved out of most of the Brisbane portion of the Sunshine Coast-based seat of Fisher, making it a natural choice for that seat's Labor MP, Michael Lavarch, to transfer ahead of the 1993 election.

However, one of the candidates, an independent, died very shortly before the election, making it necessary to hold a standalone supplementary election on 17 April (the rest of the country had already voted on 13 March). Following Labor's reelection, the Prime Minister Paul Keating announced the makeup of the Second Keating ministry to be sworn in on 24 March, but kept the portfolio of Attorney-General open for Lavarch subject to him winning Dickson on 17 April. He won the seat, and was appointed to the ministry on 27 April.

Peter Dutton lost the seat at the 2025 federal election to three-time challenger Ali France, who previously contested the seat at the 2019 and 2022 elections. This was the first time a federal party leader had lost their seat since John Howard lost his electorate of Bennelong at the 2007 federal election, and was the first time in Australian political history that a sitting opposition leader had lost their seat in parliament.

Boundaries

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.

The division is located in the outer north-western suburbs of Brisbane. The 2006 redistribution added the Shire of Esk to and removed part of Kallangur from the seat. It has historically been a marginal seat, changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party.

Members

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Michael Lavarch (1961–)	Labor	17 April 1993 – 2 March 1996	Previously held the Division of Fisher. Served as minister under Keating. Lost seat
		Tony Smith (1950–)	Liberal	2 March 1996 – 26 May 1998	Lost seat
			Independent	26 May 1998 – 3 October 1998
		Cheryl Kernot (1948–)	Labor	3 October 1998 – 10 November 2001	Previously a member of the Senate. Lost seat
		Peter Dutton (1970–)	Liberal	10 November 2001 – 3 May 2025	Served as minister under Howard, Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. Previously the Opposition Leader. Lost seat
		Ali France (1973–)	Labor	3 May 2025 – present	Defeated incumbent MP Peter Dutton at the 2025 federal election. This was the first time a party leader had lost their seat since John Howard in 2007, and the first time in Australian history that a sitting opposition leader had lost their seat in parliament.

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Dickson

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Queensland § Dickson.[edit]

2025 Australian federal election: Dickson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Peter Dutton	29,399	34.57	−7.50
	Labor	Ali France	29,107	34.22	+2.52
	Independent	Ellie Smith	10,853	12.76	+12.76
	Greens	Vinnie Batten	6,173	7.26	−5.74
	One Nation	Joel Stevenson	3,280	3.86	−1.50
	Legalise Cannabis	David Zaloudek	2,297	2.70	+2.70
	Family First	Suniti Hewett	1,829	2.15	+2.15
	Trumpet of Patriots	Michael Jessop	1,435	1.69	+1.69
	Animal Justice	Maureen Brohman	680	0.80	+0.80
Total formal votes			85,053	96.23	+0.11
Informal votes			3,329	3.77	−0.11
Turnout			88,382	74.02	−17.33
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Ali France	46,966	56.52	+8.22
	Liberal National	Peter Dutton	36,131	43.48	−8.22
	Labor gain from Liberal National		Swing	+8.22

Results are not final. Last updated on 4 May 2025 at 7:32 PM AEST.

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in Queensland § Dickson.[edit]

2022 Australian federal election: Dickson

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal National	Peter Dutton	41,657	42.07	−3.86
	Labor	Ali France	31,396	31.70	+0.37
	Greens	Vinnie Batten	12,871	13.00	+3.02
	One Nation	Tamera Gibson	5,312	5.36	+0.18
	United Australia	Alina Ward	2,717	2.74	+0.50
	Independent	Alan Buchbach	2,222	2.24	+2.24
	Independent	Thor Prohaska	1,618	1.63	−0.74
	Liberal Democrats	Lloyd Russell	1,236	1.25	+1.25
Total formal votes			99,029	96.12	+0.48
Informal votes			3,996	3.88	−0.48
Turnout			103,025	91.35	−2.32
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal National	Peter Dutton	51,196	51.70	−2.94
	Labor	Ali France	47,833	48.30	+2.94
	Liberal National hold		Swing	−2.94

Alluvial diagram for preference flows in the seat of Dickson in the 2022 federal election. Y indicates at what stage the winning candidate had over 50% of the votes and was declared the winner.

External links

• Division of Dickson (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission