Division of McMillan

McMillan
Australian House of Representatives Division

Division of McMillan in Victoria, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created 1949
MP Russell Broadbent
Party Liberal
Namesake Angus McMillan
Electors 116,179 (2016)
Area 8,328 km2 (3,215.5 sq mi)
Demographic Rural

The Division of McMillan is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the western part of the Gippsland region, which extends for the length of Victoria's eastern Bass Strait coastline. It includes the outer south-eastern Melbourne suburb of Pakenham, and also includes the towns of Warragul, Moe, Wonthaggi, Leongatha and Foster. It stretches from Mount Baw Baw and the Baw Baw National Park in the north to Wilsons Promontory, and the Wilsons Promontory National Park in the south. It is the southernmost Electoral Division in continental Australia.

The Division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 election. It was named after Angus McMillan, one of the first Europeans to explore the Gippsland region. The seat traded hands between the conservative parties from its creation until Labor finally won it in 1980. The Division has changed hands five times in the last seven Federal elections. The change at the 2004 election was attributed to the redistribution of 29 January 2003, which removed the traditionally Labor-voting cities of Traralgon and Morwell from the Division.[1] This allowed Liberal Russell Broadbent to win the seat once again; he'd previously held it from 1996 to 1998. Broadbent was reelected in the 2007 election, making it the first time he has been re-elected.

The 1972 federal election saw Country Party candidate Arthur Hewson win the seat from third place and a primary vote of 16.6%.[2] This is the lowest primary vote for a winning candidate in any federal election; Hewson overtook the Liberal candidate on preferences from the Democratic Labor Party and disendorsed sitting Liberal MP Alexander Buchanan, and then defeated the Labor candidate on Liberal preferences.[3]

Name change proposal

In March 2016 the Member for McMillan, Russell Broadbent, announced he had written to the Australian Electoral Commission with the suggestion his electorate be renamed. He said Angus McMillan's name has been connected with the mass murder of Gippsland's indigenous people. The Labor candidate for McMillan, Chris Buckingham, supported the change. The proposal will be considered by the AEC during its scheduled 2017 review of Victorian federal electorate boundaries.[4]

Members

MemberPartyTerm
  Geoffrey Brown Liberal 1949–1955
  Alexander Buchanan Liberal 1955–1972
  Independent 1972–1972
  Arthur Hewson Country 1972–1975
  Barry Simon Liberal 1975–1980
  Barry Cunningham Labor 1980–1990
  John Riggall Liberal 1990–1993
  Barry Cunningham Labor 1993–1996
  Russell Broadbent Liberal 1996–1998
  Christian Zahra Labor 1998–2004
  Russell Broadbent Liberal 2004–present

Election results

Australian federal election, 2016: McMillan[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Russell Broadbent 48,304 47.86 −2.50
Labor Chris Buckingham 29,531 29.26 +4.21
Greens Donna Lancaster 9,810 9.72 +2.10
Family First Nathan Harding 3,418 3.39 +1.38
Animal Justice Jennifer McAdam 3,022 2.99 +2.99
Rise Up Australia Norman Baker 2,786 2.76 +2.09
Liberal Democrats Jim McDonald 2,289 2.27 +2.27
Christians Kathleen Ipsen 1,761 1.74 +1.74
Total formal votes 100,921 94.29 +0.40
Informal votes 6,115 5.71 −0.40
Turnout 107,036 92.13 −2.51
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Russell Broadbent 56,543 56.03 −5.80
Labor Chris Buckingham 44,378 43.97 +5.80
Liberal hold Swing −5.80

References

  1. Strong, Geoff (11 October 2004). "Three times lucky for seasoned campaigner". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 3 July 2005.
  2. Carr, Adam. "1972 results - Victoria". Psephos. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  3. Colebatch, Tim (2 September 2010). "Wilkie's winning tally of 21 not the smallest ever". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  4. Emma Watson, "Broadbent backs McMillan name change", Latrobe Valley Express, 4 April 2016. Retrieved 6 April 2016
  5. McMillan, VIC, Virtual Tally Room 2016, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Coordinates: 38°15′58″S 146°03′32″E / 38.266°S 146.059°E / -38.266; 146.059

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