Division of Ballarat
| Ballarat Australian House of Representatives Division |
|
|---|---|
Division of Ballarat (green) in Victoria
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| Created | 1901 |
| MP | Catherine King |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | Ballarat (from the Aboriginal: balaarat, meaning a resting or camping place.)[1] |
| Electors | 103,296 (2013)[2] |
| Area | 4,652 km2 (1,796.1 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Provincial |
The Division of Ballarat (Ballaarat from 1901 until the 1977 redistribution[1]) is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the provincial city of Ballarat; which is apparently derived from the Aboriginal word balaarat, meaning a resting or camping place.[1]
The division currently takes in the regional City of Ballarat and the smaller towns of Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Blackwood, Buninyong, Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford, Myrniong and Trentham and part of Burrumbeet.
The current Member for Ballarat, since the 2001 federal election, is Catherine King, a member of the Australian Labor Party.
History
At various times in its existence the division has included other towns such as Ararat, Maryborough, and Stawell.
Ballarat is a marginal seat, changing hands at intervals between the Labor Party and the non-Labor parties. Its most prominent member has been Alfred Deakin, who was Prime Minister of Australia three times. Liberal senator Michael Ronaldson was the grandson of Archibald Fisken, a former Member for Ballarat.[3]
Ballarat also holds the distinction of seeing the closest seat result in Australian history. Nationalist Edwin Kerby unseated Labor incumbent Charles McGrath by a single vote in 1919. However, McGrath alleged irregularities, and the result was thrown out in 1920, forcing a by-election that was won by McGrath.[4]
Members
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alfred Deakin | Protectionist | 1901–1909 | |
| Commonwealth Liberal | 1909–1913 | ||
| Charles McGrath | Labor | 1913–1919 | |
| Edwin Kerby | Nationalist | 1919–1920 | |
| Charles McGrath | Labor | 1920–1931 | |
| United Australia | 1931–1934 | ||
| Archibald Fisken | United Australia | 1934–1937 | |
| Reg Pollard | Labor | 1937–1949 | |
| Alan Pittard | Liberal | 1949–1951 | |
| Bob Joshua | Labor | 1951–1955 | |
| Labor (Anti-Communist) | 1955–1955 | ||
| Dudley Erwin | Liberal | 1955–1975 | |
| Jim Short | Liberal | 1975–1980 | |
| John Mildren | Labor | 1980–1990 | |
| Michael Ronaldson | Liberal | 1990–2001 | |
| Catherine King | Labor | 2001–present | |
Election results
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| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Catherine King | 39,251 | 41.91 | −9.84 | |
| Liberal | John Fitzgibbon | 35,592 | 38.00 | +4.05 | |
| Greens | Stephanie Hodgins-May | 8,911 | 9.51 | −1.83 | |
| Palmer United | Gerard Murphy | 3,396 | 3.63 | +3.63 | |
| Sex Party | Joshua Mathieson | 2,135 | 2.28 | +2.28 | |
| Christians | Anne Foster | 1,139 | 1.22 | +1.22 | |
| Family First | Shane Clark | 1,139 | 1.22 | −1.74 | |
| Democratic Labour | Stephen Vereker | 1,022 | 1.09 | +1.09 | |
| Katter's Australian | Shane Dunne | 849 | 0.91 | +0.91 | |
| Rise Up Australia | Ana Rojas | 229 | 0.24 | +0.24 | |
| Total formal votes | 93,663 | 95.34 | −0.94 | ||
| Informal votes | 4,578 | 4.66 | +0.94 | ||
| Turnout | 98,241 | 94.94 | +0.14 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Catherine King | 51,411 | 54.89 | −6.81 | |
| Liberal | John Fitzgibbon | 42,252 | 45.11 | +6.81 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | −6.81 | |||
References
External links
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