Electoral district of Surfers Paradise

{{Short description|State electoral district of Queensland, Australia}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Use Australian English|date=April 2020}}

{{Infobox Australian Electorate |name = Surfers Paradise

|federal=|state = qld

|upper=|image = ECQ-2017-Final-Surfers Paradise.pdf

|caption = Electoral map of Surfers Paradise 2017

|lifespan =

|mp = John-Paul Langbroek

|mp-party = Liberal National

|namesake = Surfers Paradise

|electors = 35065

|electors_year = 2020

|area = 24

|class = Inner-metropolitan

|coordinates = {{coord|27|59|S|153|24|E|type:adm2nd|display=inline,title}}

| near-n = Broadwater

| near-ne = Coral Sea

| near-e = Coral Sea

| near-se = Coral Sea

| near-s = Mermaid Beach

| near-sw = Gaven
Mudgeeraba

| near-w = Southport

| near-nw = Bonney

}}

File:QLD - Surfers Paradise 2008.png

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.{{cite QldElectorate|date=28 April 2020}}

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.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

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 Liberal John-Paul Langbroek on a large swing.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

Since then, the seat has been one of the safest seats in Queensland for the Liberals and the merged Liberal National Party of Queensland, and has often been the safest LNP seat in the state. It is presently the LNP's fifth-safest seat, with Labor needing a 16.6 percent swing to win it. As a measure of how conservative this seat is, Langbroek suffered a swing of 10 percent against him in 2015, but still retained it with a comfortable majority of 19.2 percent. Langbroek served as opposition leader from 3 April 2009 - 22 March 2011{{Cite web |title=Mr John-Paul Langbroek |url=https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Members/Current-Members/Member-List/Member-Details?id=1171982594 |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=Members |publisher=Queensland Parliament |archive-date=12 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231112081845/https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Members/Current-Members/Member-List/Member-Details?id=1171982594 |url-status=live }} — the first member from the Liberal side of the merger to hold the post.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}

The seat is almost entirely within the equally conservative federal seat of Moncrieff.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}