| Bass Australian House of Representatives Division |
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|---|---|
Division Bass (green) in Tasmania |
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| Created: | 1903 |
| MP: | Geoff Lyons |
| Party: | Labor |
| Namesake: | George Bass |
| Area: | 7,378 km² (2,849 sq mi) |
| Demographic: | Provincial |
The Division of Bass is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania. The division was created in 1903 and is named for the explorer George Bass. It has always been based on the city of Launceston and surrounding rural areas, and its boundaries have changed very little in the century since its creation. For most of its history it has been a marginal seat, changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the conservative parties - since 1949 the Liberal Party. Its most notable member has been Lance Barnard, who was Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam Labor government. His resignation in 1975 was followed by Labor's heavy defeat in the Bass by-election, which is seen as the beginning of the end of the Whitlam government.
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Storrer | Protectionist | 1903–1909 | |
| Independent | 1909–1910 | ||
| Jens Jensen | Labor | 1910–1916 | |
| Nationalist | 1916–1919 | ||
| Independent | 1919–1919 | ||
| David Jackson | Nationalist | 1919–1929 | |
| Allan Guy | Labor | 1929–1931 | |
| United Australia | 1931–1934 | ||
| Claude Barnard | Labor | 1934–1949 | |
| Bruce Kekwick | Liberal | 1949–1954 | |
| Lance Barnard | Labor | 1954–1975 | |
| Kevin Newman | Liberal | 1975–1984 | |
| Warwick Smith | Liberal | 1984–1993 | |
| Silvia Smith | Labor | 1993–1996 | |
| Warwick Smith | Liberal | 1996–1998 | |
| Michelle O'Byrne | Labor | 1998–2004 | |
| Michael Ferguson | Liberal | 2004–2007 | |
| Jodie Campbell | Labor | 2007–2010 | |
| Geoff Lyons | Labor | 2010–present | |
| Australian federal election, 2010: Bass | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | Geoff Lyons | 28,448 | 43.43 | +6.17 | |
| Liberal | Steve Titmus | 26,010 | 39.71 | -3.71 | |
| Greens | Sancia Colgrave | 10,206 | 15.58 | +0.44 | |
| CEC | Adrian Watts | 838 | 1.28 | +0.93 | |
| Total formal votes | 65,502 | 96.02 | -0.75 | ||
| Informal votes | 2,714 | 3.98 | +0.75 | ||
| Turnout | 68,216 | 95.16 | -1.14 | ||
| Two-candidate preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Geoff Lyons | 37,165 | 56.74 | +5.71 | |
| Liberal | Steve Titmus | 28,337 | 43.26 | -5.71 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | +5.71 | |||
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