Division of Ballarat

Last updated

Ballarat
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Ballarat 2022.png
Division of Ballarat in Victoria, as of the 2022 federal election
Created1901
MP Catherine King
Party Labor
Namesake Ballarat (historically spelled "Ballaarat", from a Wathaurong Aboriginal word: balla arat, thought to mean "resting place".) [1]
Electors 110,704 (2022)
Area4,322 km2 (1,668.7 sq mi)
DemographicProvincial

The Division of Ballarat (spelt Ballaarat from 1901 until the 1977 election [1] ) is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. [1] It was named for the provincial city of the same name by Scottish squatter Archibald Yuille, who established the first settlement − his sheep run called Ballaarat − in 1837, [2] with the name derived from a local Wathawurrung word for the area, balla arat, thought to mean "resting place".

Contents

The division currently takes in the regional City of Ballarat and the smaller towns of Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Blackwood, Buninyong, Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford, Myrniong and Trentham and part of Burrumbeet.

The current Member for Ballarat, since the 2001 federal election, is Catherine King, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

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. [3]

History

The city of Ballarat, the division's namesake Ballarat from the Black Hill Lookout.jpg
The city of Ballarat, the division's namesake

At various times in its existence the division has included other towns such as Ararat, Maryborough, and Stawell.

Ballarat used to be a marginal seat, changing hands at intervals between the Labor Party and the non-Labor parties. Unlike most marginal seats, it was not a barometer for winning government; since 1955, all but one of its members has spent at least one term in opposition.

Its most prominent member has been Alfred Deakin, who was Prime Minister of Australia three times. Liberal senator Michael Ronaldson was the grandson of Archibald Fisken, a former Member for Ballarat. [4]

Ballarat also holds the distinction of seeing the closest seat result in Australian history. Nationalist Edwin Kerby unseated Labor incumbent Charles McGrath by a single vote in 1919. However, McGrath alleged irregularities, and the result was thrown out in 1920, forcing a by-election that was won by McGrath. [5]

Since 2001, the seat has been held by Catherine King, a member of the Australian Labor Party. It has been a safe Labor seat since 2007 except for a 6.8 percent swing towards the Liberal Party at the 2013 election turning it marginal for one term.

Members

ImageMemberPartyTermNotes
  Alfred Deakin crop.jpg Alfred Deakin
(1856–1919)		 Protectionist 30 March 1901 –
26 May 1909		Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Essendon and Flemington. Served as minister under Barton. Served as Prime Minister from 1903 to 1904, 1905 to 1908 and 1909 to 1910. Served as Opposition Leader in 1909, and from 1910 to 1913. Retired
  Commonwealth Liberal 26 May 1909 –
23 April 1913
  David Charles McGrath - Richard & Co (cropped).jpg Charles McGrath
(1872–1934)		 Labor 31 May 1913 –
13 December 1919 		Lost seat by one vote
  Edwin Kerby.png Edwin Kerby
(1885–1971)		 Nationalist 13 December 1919 –
2 June 1920 		1919 election results declared void. Lost seat in subsequent by-election
  David Charles McGrath - Richard & Co (cropped).jpg Charles McGrath
(1872–1934)		 Labor 2 June 1920 –
March 1931 		Died in office
  Independent March 1931 –
7 May 1931
  United Australia 7 May 1931 –
31 July 1934
  Archibald Fisken.jpg Archibald Fisken
(1897–1970)		 15 September 1934 –
23 October 1937 		Retired. Grandson is Michael Ronaldson
  Reg Pollard 1940s.png Reg Pollard
(1894–1981)		 Labor 23 October 1937 –
10 December 1949 		Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Bulla and Dalhousie. Served as minister under Chifley. Transferred to the Division of Lalor
  Alan Pittard.png Alan Pittard
(1902–1992)		 Liberal 10 December 1949 –
28 April 1951 		Lost seat
  Bob Joshua.png Bob Joshua
(1906–1970)		 Labor 28 April 1951 –
April 1955 		Lost seat
  Labor (Anti-Communist) April 1955 –
10 December 1955
  DudleyErwin1961.jpg Dudley Erwin
(1917–1984)		 Liberal 10 December 1955 –
11 November 1975 		Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Holt, McEwen and Gorton. Served as minister under Gorton. Retired
  No image.svg Jim Short
(1936–)		 13 December 1975 –
18 October 1980 		Lost seat. Later elected to the Senate in 1984
  John Mildren
(1932–)		 Labor 18 October 1980 –
24 March 1990 		Lost seat
  Michael Ronaldson.jpg Michael Ronaldson
(1954–)		 Liberal 24 March 1990 –
8 October 2001 		Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Howard. Retired. Later elected to the Senate in 2004. Grandfather was Archibald Fisken
  Catherine King.jpg Catherine King
(1966–)		 Labor 10 November 2001 –
present		Served as minister under Gillard and Rudd. Incumbent. Currently a minister under Albanese

Election results

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in Victoria § Ballarat.[ edit ]
2022 Australian federal election: Ballarat [6]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labor Catherine King 43,17144.74−2.15
Liberal Ben Green26,14227.09−4.57
Greens John Barnes14,07614.59+5.61
United Australia Terri Pryse-Smith3,6933.83−0.77
One Nation Rosalie Taxis3,4763.60+3.60
Liberal Democrats Julia McGrath3,2163.33+3.33
Independent Alex Graham2,0442.12+0.85
Australian Federation Kerryn Sedgman6820.71+0.71
Total formal votes96,50094.97−0.83
Informal votes5,1095.03+0.83
Turnout 101,60991.90−1.92
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Catherine King 60,77062.97+2.74
Liberal Ben Green35,73037.03−2.74
Labor hold Swing +2.74
Primary vote results in Ballarat (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Liberal
  National
  Labor
  Australian Democrats
  Greens
  Democratic Labour Party
Two-candidate-preferred results in Ballarat

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Higgins</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Higgins is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria for the Australian House of Representatives. The division covers 41 km2 (16 sq mi) in Melbourne's inner south-eastern suburbs. The main suburbs include Armadale, Ashburton, Carnegie, Glen Iris, Kooyong, Malvern, Malvern East, Murrumbeena, Prahran and Toorak; along with parts of Camberwell, Ormond and South Yarra. Though historically a safe conservative seat, Higgins was won by the Liberal Party by a margin of just 3.9 percent over the Labor Party at the 2019 election, the closest result in the seat’s history. It then flipped to Labor in the 2022 election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Corangamite</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Corangamite is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for Lake Corangamite, although the lake no longer falls within the division's boundaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Banks</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Banks is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Aston</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Aston is an Australian Federal Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The division is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, coextensive with the City of Knox local government area. The suburbs in the division include Bayswater, Boronia, Ferntree Gully, Knoxfield, Rowville, Scoresby, The Basin, Wantirna and Wantirna South; and parts of Lysterfield, Sassafras and Upper Ferntree Gully.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Bendigo</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Bendigo is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named for the city of Bendigo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Bruce</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Bruce is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The division is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It covers an area of approximately 115 square kilometres (44 sq mi) including the suburbs of Dandenong North, Doveton, Endeavour Hills, Eumemmerring, Hallam, Lysterfield South, Narre Warren, and Narre Warren North; and parts of Berwick, Dandenong, Harkaway, Mulgrave, Narre Warren South, Noble Park, and Noble Park North.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Calwell</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Calwell is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Casey</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Casey is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was created in 1969 and is named for Richard Casey, who was Governor-General of Australia 1965–69.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Chisholm</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Chisholm is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. The division was created in 1949 and is named after Caroline Chisholm, a social worker and promoter of women's immigration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Corio</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Corio is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. Named for Corio Bay, it has always been based on the city of Geelong, although in the past it stretched as far east as the outer western suburbs of Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Deakin</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Deakin is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Melbourne</span> Australian federal electoral division

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Wills</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Wills is an Australian electoral division of Victoria. It is currently represented by Peter Khalil of the Australian Labor Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of Maribyrnong</span> Australian federal electoral division

The Division of Maribyrnong is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the inner north-western suburbs of Melbourne. Suburbs include Aberfeldie, Airport West, Avondale Heights, Essendon, Footscray, Gowanbrae, Keilor East, Maribyrnong, Moonee Ponds, Niddrie, West Footscray and Tullamarine. Due to redistributions, the division has been slowly moving west and changed with the introduction of the Division of Fraser in 2018. According to the 2011 census, Maribyrnong has the highest proportion of Catholics in any Commonwealth Electoral Division in Australia with 41.6% of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Division of McEwen</span> Australian federal electoral division

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 its capital city Melbourne. It includes the outer northern suburbs of Doreen, Mernda, 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Ballarat East</span> Former state electoral district of Victoria, Australia

Ballarat East was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. Prior to its abolition, it was a 3,323 km² part-urban and part-rural electorate covering areas to the east of the regional centre of Ballarat. It included the Ballarat suburbs of Ballarat East, Bakery Hill, Golden Point, Eureka, Canadian, Mount Pleasant, Mount Clear, Mount Helen and Warrenheip, and the rural towns of Ballan, Buninyong, Bungaree, Creswick, Daylesford, Dunnstown, Hepburn Springs, Kyneton, Lal Lal, Malmsbury, Meredith and Steiglitz. The electorate had a population of 54,127 as of the 2006 census, with 40,578 enrolled electors at the 2010 state election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Richmond (Victoria)</span> State electoral district of Victoria, Australia

Richmond is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is currently a 13 km2 electorate in the inner east of Melbourne, encompassing the suburbs of Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Abbotsford, Collingwood, Clifton Hill, North Fitzroy and Fitzroy. Historically a very safe seat for the Labor Party, Richmond has in recent elections become increasingly marginal against the Greens, who eventually won the seat at the 2022 Victorian state election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Wendouree</span> State electoral district of Victoria, Australia

The electoral district of Wendouree is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in Australia. It was created in the redistribution of electoral boundaries in 2013, and came into effect at the 2014 state election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Buninyong</span> State electoral district of Victoria, Australia

The electoral district of Buninyong was an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly in Australia. It was created in the redistribution of electoral boundaries in 2013, and came into effect at the 2014 state election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Victoria</span>

This is a list of electoral division results for the 2019 Australian federal election in the state of Victoria. Victoria bucked the national trend, seeing a swing from the Coalition to Labor, whereas the swing across Australia was from Labor to the Coalition.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Profile of the electoral division of Ballarat (Vic)". Current federal electoral divisions. Australian Electoral Commission. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Buninyong monument. Ballarat Reform League. Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
  3. ↑ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  4. ↑ "House of Representatives: Voting by constituency, Victoria". Legislative election of 24 March 1990. Adam Carr. 1990. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  5. ↑ "BALLARAT ELECTION VOID". The Argus . Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 3 June 1920. p. 8. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  6. ↑ Ballarat, VIC, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

37°30′58″S144°03′58″E / 37.516°S 144.066°E / -37.516; 144.066

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.