Division of Hindmarsh

Last updated

Hindmarsh
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Hindmarsh 2019.png
Division of Hindmarsh
Map
Interactive map of boundaries
Created1903
MP Mark Butler
Party Labor
Namesake Sir John Hindmarsh
Electors 128,814 (2022)
Area78 km2 (30.1 sq mi)
DemographicInner metropolitan

The Division of Hindmarsh is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia covering the north western and western coastal suburbs of Adelaide. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was split on 2 October 1903, and was first contested at the 1903 election, though now on slightly different boundaries. The Division is named after Sir John Hindmarsh, who was Governor of South Australia from 1836 to 1838. Since the 2019 Australian federal election The Division of Hindmarsh consists of part of the City of Charles Sturt, part of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, and part of the City of West Torrens.

Contents

Geography

The 78 km2 seat extends from the coast in the west to South Road in the east, covering the suburbs of Ascot Park, Brooklyn Park, Edwardstown, Fulham, Glenelg, Grange, Henley Beach, Kidman Park, Kurralta Park, Morphettville, Plympton, Richmond, Semaphore Park, Torrensville, West Beach and West Lakes. The Adelaide International Airport was centrally located in the electorate, making noise pollution a prominent local issue, besides the aged care needs of the relatively elderly population − the seat has one of Australia's highest proportions of citizens over the age of 65.

History (1903-1993)

Sir John Hindmarsh, the division's namesake John Hindmarsh 2.jpeg
Sir John Hindmarsh, the division's namesake

The Division was one of the seven established when the multi-member Division of South Australia was redistributed into single-member seats on 2 October 1903. The Division comprised the South Australian House of Assembly District of Port Adelaide, with the addition of Goodwood from the District of Torrens. The were 13 Polling Places for the 1903 Australian federal election located within the Division — Port Adelaide, Lefevre's Peninsula, Alberton, Rosewater, Woodville, York, Hindmarsh, Thebarton, Hilton, Henley Beach, Plympton, Goodwood and Grand Junction. [1]

The Division together with the seats of Adelaide and Boothby covered the metropolitan area of Adelaide until 1949. The south-east state border rural seat of Barker was then considered a "hybrid urban-rural" seat, stretching all the way from the southern tip of South Australia at least as far as Glenelg and the Holdfast Bay area, and at times even stretched as far as the western metropolitan suburbs of Keswick and Henley Beach.

Redistributions from the late 1940s onward have moved Hindmarsh clear of its initial boundaries over time to include increasingly wealthy seaside suburbs in and around Glenelg and the Holdfast Bay area to the south. Though initially based on the greater Port Adelaide area to the north of the present boundary this locality was now represented by the Division of Port Adelaide which was created in 1949 following an increase in the Australian House of Representatives from 74 to 121 seats.

After 1949 some of the area had variously been covered by Boothby, Kingston and now-abolished Hawker which was created in 1969. The present Hindmarsh has changed little geographically since neighbouring Division of Hawker was abolished in 1993, though the north-western coastal strip was added from 2004.

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. [2]

A redistribution ahead of the 1984 election made Hindmarsh far less safe for Labor. From then on, successive redistributions gradually gave it a voting pattern similar to mortgage belt seats, which tend to be fairly marginal. Though now a marginal seat, for nearly a century it had been one of the safest Labor seats in the country, and was in Labor hands for all but three years from the 1903 election to the 1993 election. As a measure of the strength of Labor support at the time, it was the only seat in the state won by Labor in the massive United Australia Party landslide of 1931. One of the few times that Labor's hold on the seat was seriously threatened in this time came in 1966, when the Labor margin was pared down to 1.7 percent after a 20% swing. Even then, sitting member Clyde Cameron still won enough primary votes to retain the seat outright. Hindmarsh had long been dominated by working-class families and aged pensioners. Progressive boundary redistributions over many decades transformed Hindmarsh from a safe Labor seat in to a marginal seat often won by the government of the day.


Prominent members

Prominent members for the electorate have included Norman Makin, who was Speaker in the Scullin government, and a cabinet minister in the Curtin and Chifley governments, and Clyde Cameron, who was a cabinet minister in the Whitlam government.

Elections 1993-2016

Labor's hold on the seat became even more tenuous in the redistribution prior to the 1993 election when it absorbed most of the area around Holdfast Bay that had previously been in abolished Hawker. This reduced Labor's two-party margin from an already marginal 5.3 percent to a paper-thin one percent. Combined with state-level anger at the time stemming from the State Bank Collapse, this was enough for Liberal Chris Gallus, previously the member for Hawker, to win the seat in 1993 with a one percent two-party margin from a two percent two-party swing, becoming only the second non-Labor MP ever to win it. She seemingly consolidated her hold on the seat at the 1996 election amid her party's large victory that year, increasing her margin to 8.1 percent – easily the strongest result for a non-Labor candidate in the seat's history.

Gallus fended off spirited challenges from Labor's Steve Georganas at both the 1998 election and 2001 election, winning each time with a margin of less than two percent. When Gallus retired at the 2004 election, Georganas won the seat on a razor-thin 0.06 percent two-party margin from a one percent two-party swing, defeating Liberal candidate Simon Birmingham.

Georganas substantially increased his two-party margin above five percent at both the 2007 election and the 2010 election. Though Georganas was thought to have built up a base with the substantial Greek community in Hindmarsh (he is himself of Greek descent), he was defeated at the 2013 election when Liberal Matt Williams won the seat with a 1.89 percent margin from a 7.97 percent two-party-preferred swing. He became its third non-Labor member, and the first to oust a sitting Labor MP in the seat. The only South Australian seat to change hands in 2013, Hindmarsh became the most marginal seat in South Australia, and the only marginal Liberal seat in the state, only to be won back by Georganas for Labor at the 2016 election.

Being the only South Australian seat changing hands and won by the incoming government in 2013, coupled with being the only South Australian seat changing hands in 2016 aside from Mayo, underscored the marginal seat volatility of present-day Hindmarsh. Not a bellwether electorate however, ABC psephologist Antony Green listed the nearby Division of Makin as one of eleven seats throughout Australia which he classed as bellwethers in his 2016 pre-election guide, and was the only bellwether outside of New South Wales and Queensland. [3]

2016 election

South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon confirmed in December 2014 that by mid-2015 the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) party would announce candidates in the South Australian Liberal seats of Hindmarsh, Sturt and Mayo, along with seats in all states and territories at the 2016 federal election, with Xenophon citing the government's ambiguity on the Collins-class submarine replacement project as motivation. [4] ABC psephologist Antony Green's 2016 federal election guide for South Australia stated NXT had a "strong chance of winning lower house seats and three or four Senate seats". [5] The NXT candidate in Hindmarsh was Daniel Kirk. [6]

Going into the 2016 election with a slender 1.9 percent two-party Liberal margin, Hindmarsh was the most marginal seat in South Australia, the government's only marginal seat in South Australia, the Coalition's only gain at the 2013 election in South Australia, and was the sixth most marginal Coalition-held seat in the nation. Georganas sought to retake the seat from Williams. [7] A Galaxy seat-level opinion poll of over 500 voters in Hindmarsh conducted a week out from the Saturday 2 July election indicated a knife-edge 50–50 two-party vote. [8] Ultimately, NXT preferences allowed Georganas to reclaim Hindmarsh for Labor with a two-party margin of just 0.6 percent, representing a two-party swing of 2.5 percent. [9] Though slender, Georganas was first elected to Hindmarsh at the 2004 election with a two-party margin of just 0.06 percent. [10]

2018 redistribution and 2019 election

Hindmarsh's character was significantly altered in a redistribution ahead of the 2019 federal election. Neighbouring Port Adelaide was abolished, with the bulk of its territory transferred to Hindmarsh; as mentioned above, Hindmarsh had been based on Port Adelaide for much of the first half-century after Federation. At the same time, the Holdfast Bay area was transferred to Boothby. This had the effect of making Labor's hold on Hindmarsh much more secure; on the new boundaries, Labor's margin increased from 0.6 percent to a notional 8.2 percent. [11] At the 2019 federal election, Georgeanas contested the neighbouring seat of Adelaide where Labor incumbent Kate Ellis was retiring, to allow the former member for Port Adelaide, Mark Butler, to follow most of his constituents into the changed Hindmarsh. [12]

Members

ImageMemberPartyTermNotes
  James Hutchison.jpg James Hutchison
(1859–1909)
Labor 16 December 1903
6 December 1909
Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of East Adelaide. Served as minister under Fisher. Died in office
  William Oliver Archibald.jpg William Archibald
(1850–1926)
13 April 1910
14 November 1916
Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Port Adelaide. Served as minister under Fisher and Hughes. Lost seat
  National Labor 14 November 1916
17 February 1917
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
13 December 1919
  Norman Makin 1930.jpg Norman Makin
(1889–1982)
Labor 13 December 1919
14 August 1946
Served as Speaker during the Scullin Government. Served as minister under Curtin, Forde and Chifley. Retired. Later elected to the Division of Sturt in 1954
  Albert Thompson.png Albert Thompson
(1886–1966)
28 September 1946
10 December 1949
Previously held the South Australian House of Assembly seat of Semaphore. Transferred to the Division of Port Adelaide
  Clyde Cameron 1973 (1).jpg Clyde Cameron
(1913–2008)
10 December 1949
19 September 1980
Served as minister under Whitlam. Retired
  Labor Placeholder.png John Scott
(1934–)
18 October 1980
8 February 1993
Retired
  Liberal Placeholder.png Chris Gallus
(1943–)
Liberal 13 March 1993
31 August 2004
Previously held the Division of Hawker. Retired
  Steve Georganas crop.JPG Steve Georganas
(1959–)
Labor 9 October 2004
7 September 2013
Lost seat
  Matt Williams.JPG Matt Williams
(1973–)
Liberal 7 September 2013
2 July 2016
Lost seat
  Steve Georganas crop.JPG Steve Georganas
(1959–)
Labor 2 July 2016
11 April 2019
Transferred to the Division of Adelaide
  Mark Butler 2016.jpg Mark Butler
(1970–)
18 May 2019
present
Previously held the Division of Port Adelaide. Incumbent. Currently a minister under Albanese

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Hindmarsh [13]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labor Mark Butler 46,54742.18−0.91
Liberal Anna Finizio36,07232.69−4.06
Greens Patrick O'Sullivan15,31013.87+2.89
One Nation Walter Johnson4,3413.93+3.93
United Australia George Melissourgos3,8963.53−0.81
Animal Justice Matt Pastro2,3402.12−0.83
Great Australian Jamie Witt1,1841.07+1.07
Australian Federation Dianne Richards6530.59+0.59
Total formal votes110,34394.29−1.39
Informal votes6,6865.71+1.39
Turnout 117,02990.98−1.87
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Mark Butler 65,04358.95+2.41
Liberal Anna Finizio45,30041.05−2.41
Labor hold Swing +2.41

Related Research Articles

Christine Ann Gallus is an Australian former politician. She served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1990 to 2004, representing two different seats in South Australia—the Division of Hawker from 1990 to 1993 and the Division of Hindmarsh from 1993 to 2004. She was born in Adelaide and was educated at the Firbank Girls' Grammar School in Melbourne, Flinders University and the Australian National University. She was a researcher with the South Australian Health Commission, an advertising executive, journalist and small business director before entering politics.

The Division of Adelaide is an Australian electoral division in South Australia and is named for the city of Adelaide, South Australia's capital.

The Division of Barker is an Australian electoral division in the south-east of South Australia. The division was established on 2 October 1903, when South Australia's original single multi-member division was split into seven single-member divisions. It is named for Captain Collet Barker, a British military officer and early explorer, prior to the British Settlement of South Australia, of the southern Mount Lofty Ranges, Fleurieu Peninsula and the region at the mouth of the Murray River near the Coorong where he tragically lost his life in 1831 whilst on active duty after successfully solo swimming the channel of water and went Compass in hand over a sandhill.

The Division of Boothby is an Australian federal electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named after William Boothby (1829–1903), the Returning Officer for the first federal election.

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The Division of Mayo is an Australian electoral division located to the east and south of Adelaide, South Australia. Created in the state redistribution of 3 September 1984, the division is named after Helen Mayo, a social activist and the first woman elected to an Australian University Council. The 9,315 km2 rural seat covers an area from the Barossa Valley in the north to Cape Jervis in the south. Taking in the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island regions, its largest population centre is Mount Barker. Its other population centres are Aldgate, Bridgewater, Littlehampton, McLaren Vale, Nairne, Stirling, Strathalbyn and Victor Harbor, and its smaller localities include American River, Ashbourne, Balhannah, Brukunga, Carrickalinga, Charleston, Cherry Gardens, Clarendon, Crafers, Cudlee Creek, Currency Creek, Delamere, Echunga, Forreston, Goolwa, Gumeracha, Hahndorf, Houghton, Inglewood, Kersbrook, Kingscote, Langhorne Creek, Lobethal, Macclesfield, McLaren Flat, Meadows, Middleton, Milang, Mount Compass, Mount Pleasant, Mount Torrens, Mylor, Myponga, Normanville, Norton Summit, Oakbank, Penneshaw, Piccadilly, Port Elliot, Second Valley, Springton, Summertown, Uraidla, Willunga, Woodchester, Woodside, Yankalilla, and parts of Birdwood, Old Noarlunga and Upper Sturt.

The Division of Sturt is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. It was proclaimed at the South Australian redistribution of 11 May 1949. Sturt was named for Captain Charles Sturt, a nineteenth century British Military officer and explorer.

The Division of Hawker was an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia. The division was created in 1969 and abolished in 1993. It was named for Charles Hawker, who was a federal MP 1929–38. It was located in the southern suburbs of Adelaide and took in the suburbs of Ascot Park, Clovelly Park, Edwardstown, Glenelg, Goodwood and Morphettville. Hawker was located between the seats of Hindmarsh and Kingston.

The Division of Makin is an electoral division for the Australian House of Representatives located in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide. Makin was established in the South Australian redistribution of 3 September 1984 and named after MP and diplomat Norman Makin. The Division of Makin consists of part of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, part of the City of Salisbury and part of the City of Tea Tree Gully.

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References

  1. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/55608506 [ bare URL ]
  2. Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. The Bellwether Contests: Antony Green ABC
  4. Subs backlash, Nick Xenophon sets sights on Liberal-held seats in Adelaide: SMH 6 April 2015
  5. Election Guide (SA) - 2016 federal election guide: Antony Green ABC
  6. 2016 NXT candidates: NXT.org.au Archived 23 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Georganas elected unopposed: Neos Kosmos 3 September 2015
  8. Exclusive poll shows Hindmarsh sits on knife edge, while Liberals look safe in Boothby: The Advertiser 24 June 2016
  9. Hindmarsh, SA - 2016 Tally Room: Australian Electoral Commission Archived 2016-08-05 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Hindmarsh, SA - 2004 Tally Room: Australian Electoral Commission
  11. "2017-18 Federal Redistribution - South Australia". ABC Elections. 26 June 2018.
  12. Labor's factions negotiate deal to keep Mark Butler in parliament: ABC 18 July 2018
  13. Hindmarsh, SA, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

34°56′10″S138°31′41″E / 34.936°S 138.528°E / -34.936; 138.528