Division of Fairfax

Fairfax Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Fairfax in Queensland, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1984
MP	Ted O'Brien
Party	Liberal National Party
Namesake	Ruth Fairfax
Electors	108,276 (2016)
Area	1,036 km2 (400.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Fairfax is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created in 1984 and is named after Ruth Fairfax, founder of the Country Women's Association. It is located in the Sunshine Coast region north of Brisbane and includes the towns of Coolum, Maroochydore, Buderim, Nambour, Montville, Kenilworth and Eumundi.

The Sunshine Coast is traditionally a conservative area, and as such Fairfax has always been held by a centre-right party. Originally a safe seat for the National Party, demographic change has made it equally safe for the Liberal Party. It came to national attention in the 2013 federal election, when Clive Palmer, the founder of the Palmer United Party, narrowly won it by 53 votes. Palmer did not run for reelection, and it was widely expected that it would revert to the merged Liberal National Party; the Coalition has never won less than 57 percent of the two-party vote in a "traditional" two-party matchup with Labor. As expected, Palmer's 2013 opponent, Ted O'Brien, won it resoundingly.