Community & Business
8 May, 2025
Hamilton retains seat in Groom
After the election on Saturday, Liberal National Party (LNP) MP Garth Hamilton will remain the member of Groom for another three years.
As of Tuesday, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) had won 86 out of 150 seats in the House of Representatives in what is set to be Labor’s largest proportion of seats in Parliament in decades.
The failure of the Liberal side of the Coalition was felt no more acutely than in the Brisbane seat of Dickson which saw leader Peter Dutton out of the job after 24 years.
In Groom, incumbent MP Garth Hamilton was up against Climate 200 backed independent Suzie Holt who outperformed her primary vote in the 2022 election with a swing of just under 10 per cent.
In the first preference count, Mr Hamilton received 34,955 votes (40.47 per cent), followed by Ms Holt on 15,409 (17.84 per cent) with Richard Edwards (ALP) just behind on 14,378 (16.65 per cent).
Ms Holt may yet fall behind Mr Edwards into third party references.
“While there are still votes to be counted, I acknowledge the local and national results and the work to be done,” Mr Hamilton said, in a statement on social media.
“I want to thank all of my wonderful volunteers, supporters, staff, and friends who have stood beside me as I asked the people of Groom to again elect me as their representative.
“Australia needs an opposition to hold the government of the day to account.
“We must rise to that challenge.”
Despite her increased vote, Ms Holt has confirmed she will not take a third tilt at the seat and conceded defeat.
“While I was hoping to get over the line, a swing like this is still historic, and shows that the community here know they’re not getting their fair share of focus and funding from Canberra,” she said.
At the polling booths in Pittsworth and Southbrook, Mr Hamilton was well ahead in votes, followed by One Nation’s Rebecca Konz and Ms Holt.
At Mt Tyson, Ms Konz and Ms Holt each received 12.38 per cent of the votes, far below Mr Hamilton’s 58.10 per cent.
In the neighbouring seat of Maranoa, Nationals leader David Littleproud was returned comfortably with 43,355 votes - more than double the vote of Labor and One Nation.
He had received 341 first preference votes in Millmerran, followed by
Sharon Duncan (One Nation), who garnered 184 votes, and Alex Newman (ALP) on 132 votes.
There was no contention at Cecil Plains with Mr Littleproud gaining 59.65 per cent of the vote, trailed well behind by the ALP’s 12.28 per cent.
“It is a great honour to have been re-elected as the Member for Maranoa,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Thank you for putting your faith in me again.
“The Nationals will continue to take common sense to Canberra and fight for regional Australia’s fair share.”
All results published were current as of Tuesday afternoon according to the Australian Electoral Commission.
