Division of McEwen

McEwen Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of McEwen (green) in Victoria
Created	1984
MP	Rob Mitchell
Party	Labor
Namesake	John McEwen
Electors	111,719 (2013)
Area	10,675 km2 (4,121.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of McEwen is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. Classed as a rural seat, the electorate is located in the centre of the state, north of the capital city of Melbourne. It includes the outer northern suburbs of Craigieburn, Doreen, Mernda, Sunbury and Wollert, and extends along the Hume Highway north of the metropolitan area to include the towns of Broadford, Gisborne, Kilmore, Seymour, Wallan and Woodend as well as many other small towns.

The Division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 14 September 1984, and was first contested at the 1984 federal election. It was named after Rt Hon Sir John McEwen, leader of the Country Party of Australia, who was appointed caretaker Prime Minister of Australia after the disappearance of Harold Holt in 1967.

The seat has always been very marginal due to its demographics. While classed as rural, it is actually a hybrid urban-rural seat split between portions of Labor's traditional heartland of north Melbourne and rural areas that tilt more toward the Liberals and Nationals.

The 2007 election resulted in McEwen becoming the most marginal seat in the country. Incumbent Liberal MP Fran Bailey led throughout most of the initial count, and was initially found to have lost to former Labor state MLC Rob Mitchell by six votes. Bailey subsequently requested and was granted a full recount, which overturned Mitchell's win and instead gave Bailey a twelve-vote victory. The result was challenged in the High Court of Australia in its capacity as the Court of Disputed Returns, and was referred to the Federal Court of Australia. Over seven months after the election and a review of 643 individual votes, the court altered the formal status of several dozen, eventually declaring Bailey the winner by 27 votes, later amended to 31 votes. Following the resolution of the long-running dispute, Bailey called for a total overhaul of the voting system.

Bailey retired at the 2010 election where Mitchell again stood as the Labor candidate and won amidst a statewide Labor landslide. Ahead of the 2013 election, a redistribution pushed McEwen further into Melbourne, increasing Labor's notional majority from a marginal 5.3 percent to a fairly safe 9.2 percent. Labor barely retained the seat with a majority of just 0.15 percent, which made McEwen the most marginal opposition or government seat in Australia.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Peter Cleeland	Labor	1984–1990
	Fran Bailey	Liberal	1990–1993
	Peter Cleeland	Labor	1993–1996
	Fran Bailey	Liberal	1996–2010
	Rob Mitchell	Labor	2010–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of McEwen

Australian federal election, 2013: McEwen

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Donna Petrovich	40,853	40.34	+4.11
	Labor	Rob Mitchell	38,091	37.62	−10.19
	Greens	Neil Barker	7,187	7.10	−3.59
	Palmer United	Trevor Dance	6,822	6.74	+6.74
	Sex Party	Victoria Nash	3,256	3.22	+3.22
	Family First	Barry Newton	2,906	2.87	−0.87
	Katter's Australian	Bruce Stevens	997	0.98	+0.98
	Country Alliance	Ian Cranson	686	0.68	+0.68
	Rise Up Australia	Ferdie Verdan	463	0.46	+0.46
Total formal votes			101,261	95.38	+0.21
Informal votes			4,910	4.62	−0.21
Turnout			106,171	94.83	−1.81
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Rob Mitchell	50,787	50.15	−9.04
	Liberal	Donna Petrovich	50,474	49.85	+9.04
	Labor hold		Swing	−9.04

External links

• Division of McEwen - Australian Electoral Commission