Division of Melbourne

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This article is about the Australian federal electorate. For the Victorian state electorate, see Electoral district of Melbourne.

Melbourne
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Melbourne 2019.png
Division of Melbourne in Victoria, as of the 2019 federal election
Created1901
MPAdam Bandt
PartyGreens
NamesakeMelbourne
Electors107,552 (2019)
Area40 km2 (15.4 sq mi)
DemographicInner Metropolitan

The Division of Melbourne is an Australian electoral division in the State of Victoria, represented since the 2010 election by Adam Bandt, leader of the Australian Greens.

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. The Division of Melbourne encompasses the City of Melbourne and the suburbs of Abbotsford, Ascot Vale, Burnley, Carlton, Carlton North, Collingwood, Cremorne, Docklands, East Melbourne, Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, Flemington, Kensington, North Melbourne, Parkville, Princes Hill, Richmond, Travancore and West Melbourne. The area has heavy and light engineering, extensive manufacturing, commercial and retail activities (including Melbourne markets and central business district), dockyards, clothing and footwear industries, warehousing and distributing of whitegoods, building and other general goods. This capital city electorate's northern boundary is formed by Maribyrnong Road, Ormond Road, Park Street, Sydney Road and Glenlyon Road between the Yarra River, Maribyrnong River and Merri Creek.

History[]

The city of Melbourne, the division's namesake

Melbourne was held by the Australian Labor Party for the better part of its history. Labor first won the seat at a 1904 by-election, and held it for over a century, with former Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell the highest profile member. For most of the time from 1907 to 2004, it was one of Labor's safest seats. During this time, Labor's hold on the seat was only remotely threatened once, when Calwell saw his majority trimmed to 57.2 percent amidst the Coalition's landslide victory in 1966. This is still the closest that the conservative parties have come to winning the seat in over a century.

At the 2007 election, Melbourne became a marginal seat for the first time in a century, even as Labor won a decisive victory nationally. Greens candidate Adam Bandt taking second place on a two candidate preferred basis, leaving Labor with 54.71 percent of the vote. On a "traditional" two party preferred basis with the Liberals, Labor finished with 72.27, an increase of 1.13 percentage points.[1]

At the 2010 election however, following the retirement of former member and Minister for Finance and Deregulation Lindsay Tanner, Labor lost Melbourne to the Greens on a large swing, with Bandt far outpolling the Liberals and securing victory over Labor candidate Cath Bowtell.[2] Bandt retained his seat in 2013, 2016 and 2019, with an increase in his primary vote share on each occasion. In 2016 and 2019, he actually pushed Labor into third place.

Notably in 2017, the division had the highest percentage of "Yes" responses in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 83.7% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "Yes" in favour of same-sex marriage.

Members[]

Image Member Party Term Notes
  Malcolm McEacharn.jpg Sir Malcolm McEacharn
(1852–1910) 		Protectionist 29 March 1901 –
10 March 1904 		1903 election results declared void. Lost seat in subsequent by-election
  William Maloney1.jpg William Maloney
(1854–1940) 		Labor 30 March 1904 –
27 August 1940 		Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of West Melbourne. Retired
  Arthur Calwell 1966.jpg Arthur Calwell
(1896–1973) 		Labor 21 September 1940 –
2 November 1972 		Served as minister under Curtin, Forde and Chifley. Served as Opposition Leader from 1960 to 1967. Retired
  No image.svg Ted Innes
(1925–2010) 		Labor 2 December 1972 –
4 February 1983 		Retired
  No image.svg Gerry Hand
(1942–) 		Labor 5 March 1983 –
8 February 1993 		Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Retired
  Lindsay Tanner at Mosman Library (cropped).png Lindsay Tanner
(1956–) 		Labor 13 March 1993 –
19 July 2010 		Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired
  Adam Bandt portrait (2020).jpg Adam Bandt
(1972–) 		Greens 21 August 2010 –
present 		Incumbent. Currently Leader of the Greens

Election results[]

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Melbourne
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Victoria § Melbourne.[]
2019 Australian federal election: Melbourne[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Greens Adam Bandt 45,876 49.30 +4.70
Liberal Lauren Sherson 19,979 21.47 −3.32
Labor Luke Creasey 18,371 19.74 −4.22
Reason Judy Ryan 4,756 5.11 +5.11
Animal Justice Lawrence Pope 1,849 1.99 +0.18
Independent Dave Blake 1,154 1.24 +1.24
United Australia Tony Pecora 1,079 1.16 +1.16
Total formal votes 93,064 96.98 −0.52
Informal votes 2,896 3.02 +0.52
Turnout 95,960 89.21 +4.94
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Luke Creasey 62,410 67.06 +0.06
Liberal Lauren Sherson 30,654 32.94 −0.06
Two-candidate-preferred result
Greens Adam Bandt 66,852 71.83 +2.79
Liberal Lauren Sherson 26,212 28.17 −2.79
Greens hold Swing +2.79

References[]

  1. ^ Division of Melbourne - AEC
  2. ^ "Historic win for Greens". The Age. Fairfax Media. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  3. ^ Melbourne, VIC, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links[]

Coordinates: 37°48′00″S 144°57′47″E / 37.800°S 144.963°E / -37.800; 144.963

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