Division of Gellibrand

Gellibrand Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Gellibrand in Victoria, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created	1949
MP	Tim Watts
Party	Labor
Namesake	Joseph Gellibrand
Electors	111,217 (2019)
Area	124 km2 (47.9 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner Metropolitan

The Division of Gellibrand is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1949 and is named after Joseph Gellibrand, a pioneer settler of the Melbourne area. It is located in the industrial inner western suburbs of Melbourne and includes Altona, Altona North, Altona Meadows, Kingsville, Laverton, Newport, Seabrook, Seaholme, Seddon, South Kingsville, Spotswood, Williamstown, Williamstown North and Yarraville; and parts of Brooklyn, Footscray, Laverton North, Point Cook, West Footscray and Williams Landing.

History[]

Joseph Gellibrand, the division's namesake

The Division has been held by the Australian Labor Party for its entire existence; it is located in Labor's traditional heartland of western Melbourne, and is characterised by a very diverse, multicultural population. Labor has never tallied less than 60 percent of the two-party vote, and until 2010 always won an outright majority on first preferences alone.

Its most prominent members have been Ralph Willis, a Cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating Governments, and Nicola Roxon, a Cabinet minister in the Rudd Government and the Gillard Government and first female Attorney-General.

In recent years there has been considerable gentrification in the inner-city suburbs such as Footscray, Williamstown and Yarraville, and a consequent rise in the progressive Greens vote, which rose to 37 percent in Footscray in the 2013 election. In the west, a solid patch of working-class suburbia remain strongly Labor-leaning.

For several years, Gellibrand was Labor's safest seat in the Federal Parliament. It is currently Labor's fourth-safest seat, with an 18.2 percent swing needed for the Liberals to win it. The current member for Gellibrand since the 2013 election is Labor's Tim Watts.

Members[]

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Jack Mullens (1896–1978)	Labor	10 December 1949 – April 1955	Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Footscray. Lost seat
			Labor (Anti-Communist)	April 1955 – 10 December 1955
		Hector McIvor (1900–1992)	Labor	10 December 1955 – 2 November 1972	Retired
		Ralph Willis (1938–)	Labor	2 December 1972 – 31 August 1998	Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Retired
		Nicola Roxon (1967–)	Labor	3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013	Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired
		Tim Watts (1982–)	Labor	7 September 2013 – present	Incumbent

Election results[]

References[]

External links[]

• Division of Gellibrand - Australian Electoral Commission

Coordinates: 37°50′10″S 144°50′46″E / 37.836°S 144.846°E / -37.836; 144.846