Division of McEwen

McEwen Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of McEwen in Victoria, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created	1984
MP	Rob Mitchell
Party	Labor
Namesake	Sir John McEwen
Electors	108,064 (2019)
Area	2,670 km2 (1,030.9 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 Freeway north of the metropolitan area to include the towns of Gisborne as well as Wallan as well as many other small towns.

History[]

Sir John McEwen, the division's namesake

The Division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 14 September 1984, and was first contested at the 1984 federal election. It was named after Sir John McEwen, leader of the Australian Country Party from 1958 to 1971, who served as caretaker Prime Minister of Australia after the disappearance of Harold Holt in 1967.

While classed as rural, it is actually a hybrid urban-rural seat. The urban portion is located in Labor's traditional heartland of north Melbourne, while the rural portion votes equally strongly for the Liberals and Nationals. As a result, for most of its existence it has been highly marginal. Unlike most marginal seats with similar demographics, however, McEwen is not considered a barometer for winning government. All but one of its members has spent at least one term in opposition.

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.^[1][2][3]

Bailey retired at the 2010 election where Mitchell again stood as the Labor candidate and won amid a considerable swing to Labor in Victoria that allowed Julia Gillard to form a minority government. 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. However, Mitchell barely retained the seat against former Liberal MLC Donna Petrovich with a majority of just 0.15 percent—a margin of just 313 votes—which made McEwen the most marginal seat in Australia. Mitchell won a third term in 2016 Australian federal election on a swing of over seven percent, boosting his majority to 57 percent, the strongest result in the seat's history.

Members[]

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Peter Cleeland (1938–2007)	Labor	1 December 1984 – 24 March 1990	Lost seat
		Fran Bailey (1946–)	Liberal	24 March 1990 – 13 March 1993	Lost seat
		Peter Cleeland (1938–2007)	Labor	13 March 1993 – 2 March 1996	Lost seat
		Fran Bailey (1946–)	Liberal	2 March 1996 – 19 July 2010	Served as minister under Howard. Retired
		Rob Mitchell (1967–)	Labor	21 August 2010 – present	Incumbent

Election results[]

References[]

External links[]

• Division of McEwen - Australian Electoral Commission

Coordinates: 37°21′43″S 145°20′49″E / 37.362°S 145.347°E / -37.362; 145.347