, the division's namesake The division was formed in 1992 and is named after
Sir James Dickson, a leading advocate in
Australian Federation,
Premier of Queensland and
Minister for Defence in the
first Australian ministry.
1993 election There was an unusual circumstance at the
1993 election. The seat had been carved out of most of the Brisbane portion of the
Sunshine Coast-based seat of
Fisher, making it a natural choice for that seat's Labor MP,
Michael Lavarch, to transfer ahead of the 1993 election. However, one of the candidates, an independent, died very shortly before the election, making it necessary to hold a
standalone supplementary election on 17 April (the rest of the country had already voted on 13 March). Following Labor's reelection, the
Prime Minister Paul Keating announced the makeup of the
Second Keating ministry to be sworn in on 24 March, but kept the portfolio of
Attorney-General open for Lavarch subject to him winning Dickson on 17 April. He won the seat, and was appointed to the ministry on 27 April.
2025 election Peter Dutton lost the seat at the
2025 federal election to Labor's
Ali France, who previously contested the seat at the
2019 and
2022 elections. Dutton lost over seven percent of his primary vote from 2022, and was defeated on a swing of 7.7 percent after all preferences were distributed. France defeated Dutton after over three-fourths of Green preferences flowed to her. He is the first federal major party leader to lose his own seat since
John Howard lost his electorate of
Bennelong at the
2007 federal election, and the first sitting opposition leader since Federation to lose his own seat in parliament. == Boundaries ==