Division of Aston

Aston Australian House of Representatives Division
Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the 2025 federal election
Created	1984
MP	Mary Doyle
Party	Labor
Namesake	Tilly Aston
Electors	122,512 (2025)
Area	124 km2 (47.9 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer metropolitan

The Division of Aston is an Australian Federal Electoral Division in the state of Victoria, located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The suburbs in the division include Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Kilsyth South, Knoxfield, Rowville, Scoresby, The Basin, Wantirna and Wantirna South; and parts of Lysterfield, Sassafras, Upper Ferntree Gully, Ringwood, Heathmont and Bayswater North.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned. ^[1]

When the division was introduced in 1984, it covered areas in the City of Knox which were previously in the Division of Deakin and Division of La Trobe. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Between 2018 and 2024, the division was co-extensive with the City of Knox local government area. In 2024, it was expanded northwards to include a portion of the City of Maroondah south of Canterbury Road and east of EastLink. ^[2]

Since the 2024 redistribution, the division covered all of City of Knox, and southern portions of City of Maroondah. ^[5]

History

Tilly Aston, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 and is named after Tilly Aston, a blind writer and teacher who helped found the Library of the Victorian Association of Braille Writers in 1894.

A typical "mortgage belt" seat, it was held by the Labor Party until 1990, but from then until 2023 it was held by the Liberal Party. At the 2022 Australian federal election it was the Liberal Party’s safest seat in metropolitan Melbourne. ^[6] However, the seat became marginal at that election, with the Liberals experiencing a 11.64% drop in their primary vote and a 7.32% drop in their two-party vote. The very next year, the Australian Labor Party regained the seat from the Liberal Party following the 2023 by-election. ^[7] Mary Doyle was elected as the new Labor member in the by-election.

Aston has one of the biggest Chinese-Australian communities in Victoria, with more than 22,500 Chinese residents, or about 14 per cent of the electorate's population. ^{[8] [9]}

Members

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		John Saunderson (1948–)	Labor	1 December 1984 – 24 March 1990	Previously held the Division of Deakin. Lost seat
		Peter Nugent (1938–2001)	Liberal	24 March 1990 – 24 April 2001	Died in office
		Chris Pearce (1963–)		14 July 2001 – 19 July 2010	Retired
		Alan Tudge (1971–)		21 August 2010 – 17 February 2023 [10]	Served as minister under Turnbull and Morrison. Resigned in order to retire from politics.
		Mary Doyle (1970–)	Labor	1 April 2023 – present	Incumbent

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Aston

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Victoria § Aston.[ edit ]

2025 Australian federal election: Aston ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Manny Cicchiello	41,382	37.67	−5.15
	Labor	Mary Doyle	40,926	37.26	+4.75
	Greens	Reuben Steen	12,669	11.53	−0.69
	One Nation	John De Wacht	3,738	3.40	+0.34
	Family First	Craig Manners	3,006	2.74	+2.74
	Trumpet of Patriots	Steve Desveaux	2,526	2.30	+2.22
	Independent	Mark Grondman	2,439	2.22	+2.22
	Independent	Andrew Williams	2,104	1.92	+1.92
	Libertarian	David Fawcett	1,059	0.96	−1.19
Total formal votes			109,849	94.97	−1.61
Informal votes			5,814	5.03	+1.61
Turnout			115,663	94.45	+1.90
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Mary Doyle	58,690	53.43	+6.04
	Liberal	Manny Cicchiello	51,159	46.57	−6.04
	Labor gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.04

This section is an excerpt from 2023 Aston by-election § Results.[ edit ]

2023 Aston by-election  ^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Mary Doyle	37,318	40.87	+8.32
	Liberal	Roshena Campbell	35,680	39.07	–3.98
	Greens	Angelica Di Camillo	9,256	10.14	–1.94
	Independent	Maya Tesa	6,426	7.04	+7.04
	Fusion	Owen Miller	2,637	2.89	+2.89
Total formal votes			91,317	96.70	−0.03
Informal votes			3,112	3.30	+0.03
Turnout			94,429	85.64	−6.86
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Mary Doyle	48,915	53.57	+6.38
	Liberal	Roshena Campbell	42,402	46.43	–6.38
	Labor gain from Liberal		Swing	+6.38

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in Victoria § Aston.[ edit ]

2022 Australian federal election: Aston ^[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Alan Tudge	42,260	43.05	−11.64
	Labor	Mary Doyle	31,949	32.55	+2.74
	Greens	Asher Cookson	11,855	12.08	+3.22
	United Australia	Rebekah Spelman	5,990	6.10	+2.49
	One Nation	Craig Ibbotson	3,022	3.08	+3.08
	Liberal Democrats	Liam Roche	2,111	2.15	+2.15
	TNL	Ryan Bruce	973	0.99	+0.99
Total formal votes			98,160	96.73	+0.41
Informal votes			3,320	3.27	−0.41
Turnout			101,480	92.50	−1.79
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Alan Tudge	51,840	52.81	−7.32
	Labor	Mary Doyle	46,320	47.19	+7.32
	Liberal hold		Swing	−7.32

Alluvial diagram for preference flows in the seat of Aston in the 2022 federal election. Y indicates at what stage the winning candidate had over 50% of the votes and was declared the winner.

References

1. Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
2. "Aston". Parliamentary Handbook. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
3. "La Trobe". Parliamentary Handbook. Retrieved 10 June 2025.
4. "Deakin". Parliamentary Handbook. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
5. "Map of Commonwealth Electoral Division of Aston" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission. October 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2025.
6. "Election 2022: Victoria becomes key state for Labor as Liberal Party loses heartland seats".
7. "Labor's Mary Doyle snatches historic victory in Aston by-election in Melbourne's outer east". ABC News. April 2023.
8. Xiao, Bang. "Chinese-Australians' political awakening was a big factor in Labor's win in Aston". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
9. Yu, Andi. "Labor's Mary Doyle snatches historic victory in Aston by-election in Melbourne's outer east". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
10. "Aston By-Election". Parliament of Australia. 17 February 2023. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
11. Aston, Vic, 2025 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
12. "Aston, VIC". Australian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 8 May 2023. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
13. "2022 Federal Election: Aston, VIC". AEC Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023.

External links

• Division of Aston – Australian Electoral Commission

37°53′31″S145°14′24″E / 37.892°S 145.240°E / -37.892; 145.240