Division of Eden-Monaro
Eden-Monaro Australian House of Representatives Division | |
---|---|
Division of Eden-Monaro in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election. | |
Created | 1901 |
MP | Mike Kelly |
Party | Labor |
Namesake | Eden and Monaro |
Electors | 107,817 (2016) |
Area | 41,617 km2 (16,068.4 sq mi) |
Demographic | Rural |
The Division of Eden-Monaro is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the town of Eden and the Monaro district of southern New South Wales.
Its boundaries have changed very little throughout its history, and it includes the towns of Yass, Bega and Cooma and the city of Queanbeyan. It completely surrounds the Australian Capital Territory.
Until 1943 the seat was held by non-Labor parties for all but three years. Since then, it has been consistently marginal, though it was in Labor hands for all but one term from 1943 to 1975. This is mainly because of the seat's demographics. The Eden area tilts toward the Liberals; most of the area is part of the historically safe Liberal state seat of Bega. In contrast, the Monaro area has traditionally been more of a swing area.
Prior to the 2016 election, Eden-Monaro was long regarded as Australia's most well-known "bellwether seat". From the 1972 election until the 2013 election, Eden-Monaro was won by the party that also won the election. During this time, all of its sitting members were defeated at the polls – none retired or resigned.
Liberal incumbent Peter Hendy was defeated by Labor's Mike Kelly at the 2016 election. Kelly had previously represented Eden-Monaro from 2007 to 2013. Kelly's 2016 victory made him the seat's first opposition MP since 1969. The nation's new bellwether became the seat of Robertson – continually won by the party that also won government since the 1983 election. "Best" bellwether aside, ABC psephologist Antony Green classed a total of eleven electorates as bellwethers in his 2016 election guide.[1]
Members
Member | Party | Term | |
---|---|---|---|
(Sir) Austin Chapman | Protectionist | 1901–1909 | |
Commonwealth Liberal | 1909–1917 | ||
Nationalist | 1917–1926 | ||
John Perkins | Nationalist | 1926–1929 | |
John Cusack | Labor | 1929–1931 | |
John Perkins | United Australia | 1931–1943 | |
Allan Fraser | Labor | 1943–1966 | |
Dugald Munro | Liberal | 1966–1969 | |
Allan Fraser | Labor | 1969–1972 | |
Bob Whan | Labor | 1972–1975 | |
Murray Sainsbury | Liberal | 1975–1983 | |
Jim Snow | Labor | 1983–1996 | |
Gary Nairn | Liberal | 1996–2007 | |
Mike Kelly | Labor | 2007–2013 | |
Peter Hendy | Liberal | 2013–2016 | |
Mike Kelly | Labor | 2016–present |
Election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labor | Mike Kelly | 39,565 | 41.88 | +5.93 | |
Liberal | Peter Hendy | 39,049 | 41.34 | +0.07 | |
Greens | Tamara Ryan | 7,177 | 7.60 | +0.15 | |
Animal Justice | Frankie Seymour | 1,986 | 2.10 | +2.10 | |
Christian Democrats | Ursula Bennett | 1,763 | 1.87 | +0.85 | |
Independent | Daniel Grosmaire | 1,683 | 1.78 | +1.78 | |
Defence Veterans | Don Friend | 1,448 | 1.53 | +1.53 | |
Independent | Andrew Thaler | 981 | 1.04 | −0.05 | |
Independent | Ray Buckley | 817 | 0.86 | +0.86 | |
Total formal votes | 94,469 | 93.66 | −0.81 | ||
Informal votes | 6,399 | 6.34 | +0.81 | ||
Turnout | 100,868 | 93.55 | −2.58 | ||
Two-party-preferred result | |||||
Labor | Mike Kelly | 50,003 | 52.93 | +5.84 | |
Liberal | Peter Hendy | 44,466 | 47.07 | −5.84 | |
Labor gain from Liberal | Swing | +5.84 |
References
- ↑ The Bellwether Contests: Antony Green ABC
- ↑ Eden-Monaro, NSW, Virtual Tally Room 2016, Australian Electoral Commission.