A by-election was held in the Legislative Assembly of Queensland seat of Kurwongbah on 24 May 1997. It was triggered by the resignation of sitting Labor member Margaret Woodgate. The by-election was won by Labor candidate Linda Lavarch.
Result
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Linda Lavarch | 10,148 | 48.19 | +3.20 | |
| Liberal | Peter Rankin | 5,238 | 24.88 | −7.48 | |
| Independent | Yvonne Moran | 3,173 | 15.07 | +15.07 | |
| Greens | Kim Pantano | 1,359 | 6.45 | −2.76 | |
| Independent | Rona Joyner | 521 | 2.47 | +2.47 | |
| Shooters | Bev Salisbury | 452 | 2.15 | +2.15 | |
| Independent | Peter Byrne | 167 | 0.79 | +0.79 | |
| Total formal votes | 21,056 | 98.14 | −0.42 | ||
| Informal votes | 400 | 1.86 | +0.42 | ||
| Turnout | 21,456 | 84.37 | |||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Linda Lavarch | 11,484 | 60.20 | +8.25 | |
| Liberal | Peter Rankin | 7,580 | 39.80 | −8.25 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | +8.25 | |||