| Spence Australian House of Representatives Division | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Map Interactive map of boundaries | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 2019 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Matt Burnell | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Catherine Helen Spence | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 129,243 (2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 532 km2 (205.4 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Outer metropolitan | ||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°42′S138°42′E / 34.7°S 138.7°E | ||||||||||||||
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The Division of Spence is an electoral district for the Australian House of Representatives. It is located in the outer northern suburbs of Adelaide in South Australia.
Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are 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]
It is named in honour of Catherine Helen Spence, an advocate for female suffrage and electoral reform and the first female political candidate in Australia. [2]
Spence was created in the electoral redistribution that concluded in July 2018 as a replacement for the Division of Wakefield. It is essentially the more urbanised southern portion of the formerly hybrid urban-rural Wakefield. The Division of Port Adelaide was abolished after South Australia was reduced from 11 electorates to ten, resulting in quite large movements of the remaining divisions' boundaries to fill in the gap. [3]
The geographic extent of Spence is approximately the Adelaide Plains between the Little Para River in the south and the Gawler River on the north, plus areas around Gawler and Salisbury. It includes all of the City of Playford and Town of Gawler; along with Concordia and Kalbeeba from the Barossa Council, and Gawler Belt and Buchfelde from Light Regional Council on the outskirts of Gawler. Spence also includes six suburbs in the City of Salisbury south of the Little Para River but west and north of Main North Road and Kings Road. [4] Spence overlaps the final configuration of Bonython before it was abolished prior to the 2004 election [5] and much of it was merged with what had been the southern part of Wakefield. Spence extends further east, west and north than Bonython at the time of its abolition, but Wakefield had historically been a rural seat until 2004. [6]
Spence was notionally a comfortably safe Labor seat with a notional Labor margin of 17.9 percent, making it on paper the safest Labor seat in the state. By comparison, the abolished Wakefield finished with a safe Labor margin of 11.0 percent. [6] Champion retained it in 2019 with only a small swing against him. Spence is still the safest Labor seat in the state, with a 14.1 percent swing needed for the Liberals to win it.
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Nick Champion (1972–) | Labor | 18 May 2019 – 23 February 2022 | Previously held the Division of Wakefield. Resigned to transfer to state politics | |
 | Matt Burnell (1978–) | Labor | 21 May 2022 – present | Incumbent |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Matt Burnell | 46,596 | 43.86 | −7.10 | |
| Liberal | Shawn Lock | 27,153 | 25.56 | −0.27 | |
| Greens | David Deex | 12,052 | 11.35 | +4.14 | |
| One Nation | Linda Champion | 11,532 | 10.86 | +10.86 | |
| United Australia | Alvin Warren | 7,158 | 6.74 | −0.30 | |
| Australian Federation | Matilda Bawden | 1,736 | 1.63 | +1.63 | |
| Total formal votes | 106,227 | 95.05 | +1.03 | ||
| Informal votes | 5,534 | 4.95 | −1.03 | ||
| Turnout | 111,761 | 86.57 | −3.97 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Matt Burnell | 66,818 | 62.90 | −1.23 | |
| Liberal | Shawn Lock | 39,409 | 37.10 | +1.23 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | −1.23 | |||
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The Division of Makin is an electoral division for the Australian House of Representatives located in the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide. The 130 km² seat covers an area from Little Para River and Gould Creek in the north-east to Grand Junction Road in the south and Port Wakefield Road in the west, including the suburbs of Banksia Park, Fairview Park, Golden Grove, Greenwith, Gulfview Heights, Ingle Farm, Mawson Lakes, Modbury, Para Hills, Para Vista, Pooraka, Redwood Park, Ridgehaven, Salisbury East, Salisbury Heights, St Agnes, Surrey Downs, Tea Tree Gully, Valley View, Vista, Walkley Heights, Wynn Vale, Yatala Vale, and parts of Gepps Cross and Hope Valley.
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Croydon is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. Named after the suburb of Croydon, it is a 18.78 km2 (7.25 sq mi) suburban electorate in Adelaide's inner north-west. In addition to Croydon, it includes Angle Park, Athol Park, Bowden, Brompton, Croydon Park, Devon Park, Dudley Park, Ferryden Park, Kilkenny, Mansfield Park, Regency Park, Renown Park, Ridleyton, West Croydon, Woodville Gardens; and parts of Allenby Gardens, Welland, and West Hindmarsh.
Colton is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. It is a 26.2 km² suburban electorate on Adelaide's western beaches, taking in the suburbs of Adelaide Airport, Fulham, Fulham Gardens, Glenelg North, Henley Beach, Henley Beach South, Kidman Park, West Beach and part of Lockleys.
Taylor is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. This district is named after Doris Irene Taylor MBE, a leading force in the founding of Meals on Wheels, and Labor activist. Taylor is a 246.2 km2 semi-urban electorate in Adelaide's outer northern suburbs and market gardens on the Adelaide Northern plains. A large portion of the district lives in the western half of the City of Playford and it is regarded as a safe Labor seat. It now includes the suburbs and townships of Andrews Farm, Angle Vale, Bolivar, Buckland Park, Davoren Park, Edinburgh, Edinburgh North, Elizabeth North, Eyre, Macdonald Park, Munno Para West, Penfield, Penfield Gardens, Riverlea Park, Smithfield, Smithfield Plains, St Kilda, Virginia, and Waterloo Corner.
In Australia, a redistribution is the process of redrawing the boundaries of electoral divisions for the House of Representatives arising from changes in population and changes in the number of representatives. There is no redistribution for the Senate as each State constitutes a division, though with multiple members. The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), an independent statutory authority, oversees the apportionment and redistribution process for federal divisions, taking into account a number of factors. Politicians, political parties and the public may make submissions to the AEC on proposed new boundaries, but any interference with their deliberations is considered a serious offence.
