Two seats scrapped in proposed redraw of Queensland electoral map

Two Queensland seats would be scrapped under a long-awaited draft redraw of the state’s electoral boundaries, leaving the future of their two non-government MPs in doubt.

The southern Brisbane Labor-held seat of Stretton would be split between two neighbouring seats held by the same party, according to the Queensland Redistribution Commission’s proposed changes, released on Tuesday afternoon.

The Katter’s Australian Party-held seat of Hill, centred around Innisfail in the state’s far north, would also be absorbed into the surrounding seats of Hinchinbrook, Mulgrave, and a renamed Traeger.

Under the redistribution proposal, the names of 18 seats would be changed and two electorates – Caboolture and Springfield – would be created.

The former would centre on Caboolture and its western growth corridor, taking in Morayfield, Pumicestone and Glass House, while Springfield would be centred around its highly populated namesake area and incorporate some of the neighbouring seats of Bundamba and Jordan.

“These changes, particularly where districts are proposed to be absorbed into the surrounding districts, are not made lightly,” the commission noted in its proposal document.

“The commission proposes no changes to the boundaries of 8 districts, and minimal changes to a further 35 districts, meaning almost half of Queensland’s 93 electoral districts will have limited changes to their boundaries.”

The legally required redistribution is the first for the state since 2017, when parliament also expanded from 89 to 93 seats. The redrawn map will be used in the 2028 state election.

Unlike in 2017, the size of parliament will not change. Redrawing boundaries and abolishing or creating new seats is aimed at keeping the number of enrolled voters in each electorate within 10 per cent of the roughly 40,000-voter average.

More than a dozen electorates are outside this range, with some seats featuring thousands more, and others featuring thousands less.

An extensive public consultation process has been under way since mid-2025, when submissions were sought by the commission before being published and comments invited.

Among these, the LNP’s submission urged the abolition of two seats: the north Queensland seat of Hill, and the Labor-held seat of Toohey in Brisbane’s south.

Both the LNP and Greens, which urged an expansion of parliament, called for a new seat in the Logan-Ipswich corridor, in differing locations.

While Labor did not call for the abolition of any seats, it agreed with both the LNP and Greens on the need for a new electorate around Caboolture.

But throughout the process, Labor has raised concerns over the role of Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie’s department head, John Sosso, as one of three figures on the independent commission.

In a statement on Tuesday, Labor leader Steven Miles reiterated these concerns, claiming Queenslanders “cannot have any trust in this process”, nor confidence “that the LNP didn’t have sway over the process”.

“We will be analysing the draft boundaries closely and voicing our concerns,” Miles said.

KAP leader Robbie Katter described the proposed changes as “piss weak”, saying they would result in one less seat for the north and an additional one for the south-east.

LNP state director Ben Riley said the draft had “seen Labor emerge with new seats in their heartland”, and his party would “take some time to assess what the creation of these new Labor seats means”.

Using detailed maps supplied with the LNP’s submission, electoral analyst Ben Raue calculated that the party’s proposed changes would flip six Labor-held seats to being notionally LNP.

On Brisbane’s south, the neighbouring seats of Stretton and Toohey were both below the minimum voter levels, with surrounding areas projected to join in the future, the commission said.

To address this, Stretton – held by Labor’s James Martin – will be absorbed into colleague Peter Russo’s seat of Toohey (with a proposal to rename it Eight Mile Plains).

The northern portion of that combined seat will also be transferred into Labor frontbencher Mark Bailey’s seat of Miller (to be renamed Annerley), with the south going into shadow cabinet colleague Leeanne Enoch’s Algester.

Meanwhile, both Jordan and Bundamba in the Ipswich area contained too many voters, with significant ongoing growth. This would be eased by the new Springfield seat, the commission said.

It was important to keep three districts in urban Townsville, and retain the current four “large districts” stretching into the state’s west without expanding their size too much.

As such, the commission said it ultimately decided to fold Hill into its neighbouring seats.

“However, the commission is aware that, based on current enrolment projections, maintaining the enrolment viability of these [large] districts while minimising their expansion toward coastal areas will present an ongoing challenge for future redistributions,” it said.

Public submissions on the proposal are open until April 9, and will be published after this date for further public comment.

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