Queensland Election 2012 - Retiring Members

The announcement that Queensland Police and Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts will retire at the 2012 election has prompted this morning's Courier-Mail to describe it as the latest retirement in a 'mass exodus' of Labor MPs.

At this stage 10 of the state's 89 MPs have announced their retirement, eight Labor plus the LNP's Mike Horan and Independent Dorothey Pratt. However, the number of retiring Labor MPs is hardly unprecedented, nine having retired three years ago at the 2009 election. It must be said though that the current crop consists entirely of current or past Ministers and includes several who served in very senior portfolios.

While there may yet be more retirements, at this stage it seems Queensland will not challenge the remarkable record of departures set by the NSW Labor government at its defeat in March 2011.

Of the 50 Labor members in the NSW Legislative Assembly, 18 or more than a third did not re-contest the 2011 election. Another 18 members were defeated, and only 14 of the 20 elected Labor members had previously served in the Legislative Assembly.

Overall at the 2011 NSW election, 25 of the 93 Legislative Assembly members retired, 18 Labor and seven Coalition. Of the 93 members elected in March 2011, 46 had not previously served in the Assembly.

Queensland would need a landslide of even greater magnitude than NSW to see those records challenged.

Here are profiles of the ten members who have announced their retirement.

Retiring MPs

Desley Boyle - Cairns Australian Labor Party 63 year-old Boyle was first elected in 1998 to succeed former Treasurer Keith De Lacy. Before her election to Parliament Boyle worked as a senior psychologist with Desley Boyle and Associates and holds masters degrees in psychology and business administration. She served on Cairns City Council 1988-94, including two terms as Deputy-Mayor. Boyle was first appointed to the Ministry in early 2004 and over the years has held a number of portfolios including at various times Local Government, Planning, the Environment, Women, Child Safety, Tourism, Regional Development and Industry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships. Boyle was re-appointed as Minister for Local Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships after the 2009 election but stood down in February 2011 after announcing her intention to retire.
Mike Horan - Toowoomba South Liberal National Party Aged 67, Horan was first elected at a May 1991 by-election to succeed Clive Berghoffer. A former General Manager of the Toowoomba Showgrounds and the Greyhound Racing Club, Horan is also a former professional Rugby League player, as well as the father of Queensland and Australian Rugby Union centre Tim Horan. Mike Horan built a profile in the run up to the 1995 election with his constant revelation of problems in the state's hospital system, gaining the scalp of Health Minister Ken Hayward in the process. He then served as Minister for Health during the Borbidge government, being elected National Party Deputy-Leader in February 1998 when Kev Lingard was forced to stand down from the ministry. Horan lost the Deputy-Leadership in February 1999, a victim of mutterings that he should replace Borbidge as Leader, but was elected party leader after the 2001 election landslide. After two years in the job, Horan was deposed by Lawrence Springborg but remained on the opposition frontbench until the 2009 election.
Paul Lucas - Lytton Australian Labor Party 49 year-old Lucas has degrees in economics and law and worked as a solicitor before succeeding Tom Burns as MP for Lytton at a 1996 by-election. Lucas served as Chair of the Parliamentary Criminal Justice Committee following the election of the Beattie government in 1998, but had a difficult period before the Shepherdson Inquiry in late 2000 before being cleared of allegations he had falsely enrolled with Mike Kaiser in the South Brisbane electorate in 1986. Lucas joining the Ministry after the 2001 election as Minister for Innovation and the Information Economy, taking on the more senior rolls of Transport and Main Roads after the 2004 election. He retained these portfolios after the 2006 election before becoming Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure and Planning on Anna Bligh's accession to the Premiership in September 2007. Since the 2009 election Lucas has been Attorney-General, Minister for Local Government and Special Minister of State, also continuing as Deputy Premier until announcing his intention to retire in September 2011.
John Mickel - Logan Australian Labor Party Aged 58, Mickel worked as a teacher before becoming a policy adviser for the Goss government. At the time of his election succeeding Wayne Goss in 1998, Mickel was working on the staff of Opposition Leader Peter Beattie. Mickel was appointed Minister for the Environment after the 2004 election, becoming Minister for Energy in August 2004 when the government decided it needed a full time minister in the portfolio in the wake of major problems with Energex. Mickel added responsibility for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy in March 2005 after the resignation of Liddy Clark. After the 2006 election Mickel was appointed Minister for State Development, Employment and Industrial Relations, switching to be Minister for Transport, Trade, Employment and Industrial Relations when Anna Bligh became Premier. Mickel left the ministry and was elected Speaker after the 2009 election.
Lindy Nelson-Carr - Mundingburra Australian Labor Party 59 year-old Nelson-Carr worked as a high school teacher and guidance officer at Mundingburra High School before she was first elected to Parliament in 1998. Her victory recovered the seat of Mundingburra for Labor, the loss of the seat at a 1996 by-election having brought down the Goss government. Nelson-Carr was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary after the 2001 election and joined cabinet as Minister for Environment and Multiculturalism after the 2006 election. When Anna Bligh succeeded Peter Beattie as Premier, Nelson-Carr became Minister for Communities, Minister for Disability Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Seniors and Youth. She was not appointed to the Ministry after the 2009 election.
Dolly Pratt - Nanango Independent 57 year-old Dorothy (or Dolly) Pratt was the first One Nation candidate to be pre-selected before the 1998 election, and along with Shaun Nelson, was the first to leave the Party in February 1999 over the issue of internal party democracy. Born in Grafton but a long time resident of the Kingaroy district, Pratt ran Dolly's Coffee Shop in Kingaroy before her election to Parliament, and her husband ran Pratt Air Services, one of the major crop spraying businesses in the district. After leaving One Nation, Pratt was easily re-elected as an Independent in 2001 and has withstood strong challenges from the National Party and LNP at three elections since.
Neil Roberts - Nudgee Australian Labor Party Aged 57, Roberts was an Industrial Advocate for the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union before his election to Parliament in 1995. He served as Chair of the Public Works Committee after the 1998 election and was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary after the 2001 election. In the July 2005 cabinet re-shuffle, Premier Beattie had indicated he wanted Roberts in Cabinet as Minister for Small Business, but the factions overlooked him and put forward Pat Purcell instead. Roberts finally made it to Cabinet in 2007 when Anna Bligh became Premier, appointed Minister for Emergency Services. He took on larger responsibility as Minister for Police, Corrective Services and Emergency Services after the 2009 election and played an important roll in the response to the Queensland floods over the summer of 2010-11.
Stephen Robertson - Stretton Australian Labor Party Aged 50, before his election to Parliament in 1992 Robertson was a State Secretary and National President of the Fire Fighters Union. Robertson was appointed a Parliamentary Secretary after the 1998 election, joining Cabinet as Minister for Emergency Services in December 1999, putting him in charge of the organisation he once used to battle as a union official. Appointed Minister for Natural Resources and Mines after the 2001 election, Robertson had responsibility for Energy added after the 2004 election. However, as a series of problems arose first with the maintenance budget of electricity supplier Energex, and then questions of its management following the suicide of its Chief Executive, responsibility for Energy was hived off to become the job of a full-time minister. Robertson was appointed Minister for Health in a major 2005 cabinet re-shuffle, left to deal with the aftermath of the Bundaberg Hospital scandal, and retained the portfolio after the 2006 election. He moved to be Minister for Natural Resources, Mines, Energy and Trade after the 2009 election, and has been Minister for Energy and Water Utilities since February 2011.
Robert Schwarten - Rockhampton Australian Labor Party 57 year-old Schwarten is a former teacher and Queensland Teachers Union official who also served on Rockhampton City Council 1985-91. He succeeded Les Yewdale as MP for Rockhampton North in 1989, Yewdale having lost pre-selection after missing a crucial late night vote that could have brought on an early demise for the Ahern government. Schwarten's seat was replaced by the new and notionally Labor seat of Keppel at the 1992 election, but Schwarten was defeated by the National Party's Vince Lester. However, Scwarten's departure lasted only a single term, returning as MP for Rockhampton in 1995 following Paul Braddy's move to the Brisbane seat of Kedron. Schwarten served as Minister for Public works and Housing from 1998 to 2006, also gaining responsibility for Racing after the 2004 election. Following the 2006 election Schwarten became Minister for Public Works, Housing and Information and Communication Technology, retaining the portfolios after the 2009 election but leaving the Ministry in February 2011 after announcing his intention to retire.
Judy Spence - Sunnybank Australian Labor Party 54 year-old Spence was first elected to Parliament as Labor swept into office in 1989. A born and bred local from Holland Park, Spence was a high school teacher before her election, and was one of the few south-east corridor MPs who avoided being swept away by the anti-tollway swing in 1995. She was elected to the Labor opposition frontbench in February 1996 after the defeat of the Goss government, and became Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy, Minister for Women's Policy, and Minister for Fair Trading when the Beattie government assumed office in 1998 election. Following the 2001 election, Spence lost Fair Trading in exchange for Families, Seniors and Disability Services but switched to the much higher profile Police and Corrective Services portfolios in 2004. The good-publicity portfolio of Sport was added to her ministerial load when Anna Bligh became Premier in September 2007. Spence left Cabinet after the 2009 election and was appointed Leader of the House.                    __________________   |   ____________________