Division of Bass

This article is about the federal electorate. For the state electorate, see Division of Bass (state).

Bass Australian House of Representatives Division
300px Division Bass (green) in Tasmania
Created	1903
MP	Andrew Nikolic
Party	Liberal
Namesake	George Bass
Electors	72,195 (2013)
Area	7,378 km2 (2,848.7 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Bass is an Australian electoral division in Tasmania. The division was one of the five established when the former Division of Tasmania was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for the explorer George Bass. It has always been based on the city of Launceston and surrounding rural areas, and its boundaries have changed very little in the century since its creation. For most of its history it has been a marginal seat, changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the conservative parties—since 1949 the Liberal Party. Its most notable member has been Lance Barnard, who was Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam Government. His resignation in 1975 was followed by Labor's heavy defeat in the Bass by-election, which is seen as the beginning of the end of the Whitlam government.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	David Storrer	Protectionist	1903–1909
		Independent	1909–1910
	Jens Jensen	Labor	1910–1916
		National Labor	1916–1917
		Nationalist	1917–1919
		Independent	1919–1919
	David Jackson	Nationalist	1919–1929
	Allan Guy	Labor	1929–1931
		United Australia	1931–1934
	Claude Barnard	Labor	1934–1949
	Bruce Kekwick	Liberal	1949–1954
	Lance Barnard	Labor	1954–1975
	Kevin Newman	Liberal	1975–1984
	Warwick Smith	Liberal	1984–1993
	Silvia Smith	Labor	1993–1996
	Warwick Smith	Liberal	1996–1998
	Michelle O'Byrne	Labor	1998–2004
	Michael Ferguson	Liberal	2004–2007
	Jodie Campbell	Labor	2007–2010
	Geoff Lyons	Labor	2010–2013
	Andrew Nikolic	Liberal	2013–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Bass

Australian federal election, 2013: Bass

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Andrew Nikolic	31,267	47.85	+8.14
	Labor	Geoff Lyons	22,643	34.65	−8.78
	Greens	Lucy Landon-Lane	5,160	7.90	−7.68
	Palmer United	Chris Dobson	3,520	5.39	+5.39
	Family First	Christine Bergman	1,407	2.15	+2.15
	Christians	Ray Kroeze	963	1.47	+1.47
	Secular	Jin-oh Choi	384	0.59	+0.59
Total formal votes			65,344	95.82	−0.20
Informal votes			2,850	4.18	+0.20
Turnout			68,194	94.46	−0.70
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Andrew Nikolic	35,310	54.04	+10.78
	Labor	Geoff Lyons	30,034	45.96	−10.78
	Liberal gain from Labor		Swing	+10.78

External links

• Division of Bass - Australian Electoral Commission