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Home | Australian Electorate | Division of Blair
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The founder of the One Nation Party, Pauline Hanson, contested Blair in 1998, shifting from her previous seat, Oxley. To get rid of Hanson, Liberal and Labor preferenced each other, allowing Liberal challenger Cameron Thompson to win on the eighth count. Thompson held the seat without serious difficulty in the next two elections, and it was widely reckoned as a safe Liberal seat. In the 2006 redistribution, the 2004 Liberal margin of 11.2% was reduced to 5.7%, as Esk, Nanango and Kingaroy were removed and more of Ipswich and Boonah were added. Blair had been rated as having received more funding promises from the Howard Government than any other electorate in the country. In the 2007 election, Thompson was defeated by Labor challenger Shayne Neumann, with a 10.2 percent swing to Labor. |
