The electorate was first contested in 1950 and was held by the
National Party and its successor, the
Liberal National Party, for over half a century. However, even as the LNP won a landslide victory in
2012, its hold on Hinchinbrook became rather tenuous amid the rise of
Katter's Australian Party, with longtime MP
Andrew Cripps suffering an 11 percent swing. At the
2017 state election,
Nick Dametto, a member of Katter's Australian Party defeated Cripps with a large swing which he consolidated at the
2020 election. In late September 2025, Dametto stated he would resign from the
Katter's Australian Party to contest the upcoming
Townsville mayoral by-election as an independent, with the election to be held in November. On 2 October 2025, it was reported Dametto had already resigned from the party and would also be resigning from state parliament for the mayoral by-election. Dametto won the mayoral by-election with a primary vote of 61.53%. A by-election for Hinchinbrook was held on 29 November 2025 and was won by
Wayde Chiesa of the
Liberal National Party. ==Members for Hinchinbrook==