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Queensland makes up nearly one-quarter of the Australian continent. After a redistribution that added the new seat of Flynn, it contained twenty-nine House of Representatives divisions. Both major parties agreed that it would be a key battle ground in the 2007 federal election. The election of the Queenslander Kevin Rudd as its leader gave the ALP a desperately-needed fillip in a state in which it held just nine seats. In all its key elements Labor's Queensland campaign was an extension of its national campaign. Labor candidates played upon Rudd's image as a young, savvy politician. Their Coalition rivals distanced themselves from John Howard and ran as local members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]