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.

Melbourne
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Melbourne in Victoria, as of the 2022 federal election
Created1901
MPAdam Bandt
PartyGreens
NamesakeMelbourne
Electors114,447 (2022)
Area40 km2 (15.4 sq mi)
DemographicInner metropolitan

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. The Division of Melbourne encompasses the City of Melbourne and the suburbs of Abbotsford, Burnley, Carlton, Carlton North, Clifton Hill, Collingwood, Cremorne, Docklands, East Melbourne, Fitzroy, Fitzroy North, North Melbourne, Parkville, Princes Hill, Richmond, West Melbourne and parts of Brunswick East. The area has heavy and light engineering, extensive manufacturing, commercial and retail activities (including Melbourne markets and central business district), dockyards, clothing and footwear industries, warehousing and distributing of whitegoods, building and other general goods. This capital city electorate's northern boundary is formed by Maribyrnong Road, Ormond Road, Park Street, Sydney Road and Glenlyon Road between the Yarra River, Maribyrnong River and Merri Creek. The division also contains the main Parkville Campus of the University of Melbourne.

Melbourne has the highest proportion of Greens first party preferences relative to any other federal division. Melbourne also has a higher than average university education rate, with 44.8% of electors holding a bachelor's degree or above.[1]

Geography

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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]

History

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The city of Melbourne, the division's namesake

Melbourne was held by the Australian Labor Party for almost all of its history. Labor first won the seat at a 1904 by-election, and held it for over a century, with former Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell the highest profile member. For most of the time from 1907 to 2004, it was one of Labor's safest seats. During this time, Labor's hold on the seat was only remotely threatened once, when Calwell saw his majority trimmed to 57.2 percent amidst the Coalition's landslide victory in 1966. This is still the closest that the conservative parties have come to winning the seat in over a century.

At the 2007 election, Melbourne became a marginal seat for the first time in a century, even as Labor won a decisive victory nationally. Greens candidate Adam Bandt taking second place on a two candidate preferred basis, leaving Labor with 54.71 percent of the vote. On a "traditional" two party preferred basis with the Liberals, Labor finished with 72.27, an increase of 1.13 percentage points.[3]

At the 2010 election however, following the retirement of former member and Minister for Finance and Deregulation Lindsay Tanner, Labor lost Melbourne to the Greens on a large swing, with Bandt far outpolling the Liberals and securing victory over Labor candidate Cath Bowtell.[4] Bandt retained his seat in 2013, 2016 and 2019, with an increase in his primary vote share on each occasion. In 2016 and 2019, he actually pushed Labor into third place.

In 2017, the division had the highest percentage of "Yes" responses in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 83.7% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "Yes" in favour of same-sex marriage. Additionally, in the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, the division had the highest percentage of "Yes" responses of any Australian division, with 78.04% of votes cast responding "Yes" in favour of the proposal.

Members

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Image Member Party Term Notes
    Sir Malcolm McEacharn
(1852–1910)
Protectionist 29 March 1901
10 March 1904
1903 election results declared void. Lost seat in subsequent by-election
    William Maloney
(1854–1940)
Labor 30 March 1904
27 August 1940
Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of West Melbourne. Retired
    Arthur Calwell
(1896–1973)
21 September 1940
2 November 1972
Served as minister under Curtin, Forde and Chifley. Served as Opposition Leader from 1960 to 1967. Retired
    Ted Innes
(1925–2010)
2 December 1972
4 February 1983
Lost preselection and retired
    Gerry Hand
(1942–2023)
5 March 1983
8 February 1993
Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Retired
    Lindsay Tanner
(1956–)
13 March 1993
19 July 2010
Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired
    Adam Bandt
(1972–)
Greens 21 August 2010
present
Incumbent. Currently Leader of the Greens

Election results

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2022 Australian federal election: Melbourne[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Greens Adam Bandt 47,883 49.62 +1.58
Labor Keir Paterson 24,155 25.03 +3.91
Liberal James Damches 14,660 15.19 −6.01
Victorian Socialists Colleen Bolger 3,156 3.27 +3.27
United Australia Justin Borg 1,709 1.77 +0.60
Liberal Democrats Richard Peppard 1,596 1.65 +1.65
Animal Justice Bruce Poon 1,316 1.36 −0.68
Independent Scott Robson 1,094 1.13 +1.13
One Nation Walter Stragan 937 0.97 +0.97
Total formal votes 96,506 96.99 +0.01
Informal votes 2,993 3.01 −0.01
Turnout 99,499 86.98 −2.64
Notional two-party-preferred count
Labor Keir Paterson 75,191 77.91 +10.11
Liberal James Damches 21,315 22.09 −10.11
Two-candidate-preferred result
Greens Adam Bandt 58,050 60.15 −12.44
Labor Keir Paterson 38,456 39.85 +39.85
Greens hold  
Primary vote results in Melbourne (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Liberal
  Labor
  Australian Democrats
  Greens
  Reason
Two-candidate-preferred results in Melbourne

References

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  1. ^ "2016 Melbourne, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Archived from the original on 23 May 2022. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Division of Melbourne - AEC". Archived from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 30 May 2008.
  4. ^ "Historic win for Greens". The Age. Fairfax Media. 22 August 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  5. ^ Melbourne, VIC, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
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37°48′00″S 144°57′47″E / 37.800°S 144.963°E / -37.800; 144.963