Division of Oxley

Oxley Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Oxley in Queensland, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created	1949
MP	Milton Dick
Party	Australian Labor Party
Namesake	John Oxley
Electors	104,200 (2019)
Area	159 km2 (61.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer Metropolitan

The Division of Oxley is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland.

History[]

John Oxley, the division's namesake

The current division is the second to bear the name, and was created in 1949. The division is named after the Australian explorer, John Oxley. Oxley is located in south east Queensland, and covers the south western suburbs of Brisbane.

The original Division of Oxley was established in 1901, and was abolished and replaced by the Division of Griffith in 1934. The 1949 incarnation's best-known member was Bill Hayden, the Labor Opposition Leader between 1977 and 1983, when he resigned under pressure the same day that the 1983 election which swept Bob Hawke to power was called. Hayden later served as a minister in the Hawke Government before becoming Governor-General in 1989.

In 1996, the seat became most well known for controversial social conservative MP Pauline Hanson who was elected as a Liberal-turned-independent, but the seat was heavily redistributed in 1997, splitting her main support base of Ipswich between Oxley and Blair. In 1998 Hanson contested the seat of Blair, winning 36% of the primary vote but losing to the Liberals (who got 21%) under Australia's system of preferential voting. Hanson's brief tenure represents the only time since 1961 that the seat has been out of Labor hands.

Members[]

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Donald Cameron (1900–1974)	Liberal	10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961	Served as minister under Menzies. Lost seat
		Bill Hayden (1933–)	Labor	9 December 1961 – 17 August 1988	Served as minister under Whitlam and Hawke. Served as Opposition Leader from 1977 to 1983. Resigned in order to become Governor-General of Australia
		Les Scott (1947–)	Labor	8 October 1988 – 2 March 1996	Lost seat
		Pauline Hanson (1954–)	Independent	2 March 1996 – 11 April 1997	Did not contest in 1998. Failed to win the Division of Blair. Later elected to the Senate in 2016
			One Nation	11 April 1997 – 3 October 1998
		Bernie Ripoll (1966–)	Labor	3 October 1998 – 9 May 2016	Retired
		Milton Dick (1972–)	Labor	2 July 2016 – present	Incumbent

Election results[]

References[]

External links[]

• Division of Oxley (Qld) — Australian Electoral Commission

Coordinates: 27°36′32″S 152°55′59″E / 27.609°S 152.933°E / -27.609; 152.933