Electoral district of Surfers Paradise

Surfers Paradise Queensland—Legislative Assembly
Surfers Paradise (2008—)
State	Queensland
MP	John-Paul Langbroek
Party	Liberal National
Namesake	Surfers Paradise
Electors	34,315 (2015)
Area	27 km2 (10.4 sq mi)
Coordinates	27°59′S 153°24′E / 27.983°S 153.400°E / -27.983; 153.400Coordinates: 27°59′S 153°24′E / 27.983°S 153.400°E / -27.983; 153.400

Surfers Paradise is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Queensland. Located in the central portion of the Gold Coast, it is named for Surfers Paradise, the largest suburb of the Gold Coast.

While the Gold Coast has historically tilted conservative, Surfers Paradise has historically been a particularly conservative seat even by Gold Coast standards. It is one of the few areas of the Gold Coast where Labor has never been competitive at the state level. It was originally a National seat for all but one term from its creation in 1972 to 2001, with its best-known member being Rob Borbidge, the last National Premier of Queensland.

This tradition was broken after Borbidge resigned in the wake of the Coalition's massive defeat in the 2001 state election. Due to voter anger at having to go back to the polls for the second time in three months, the Nationals' primary vote plummeted to eight percent, allowing the former mayor of the Gold Coast, Lex Bell, to win as an independent. The seat reverted to form at the 2004 state election, in which Bell was defeated by current member John-Paul Langbroek of the Liberals on a large swing. Since then, the seat has been one of the safest seats in Queensland for the Liberals and the merged Liberal National Party of Queensland. Langbroek briefly served as opposition leader from 2011 to 2012--the first member from the Liberal side of the merger to hold the post.