Division of Bendigo

Bendigo Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Bendigo (green) in Victoria
Created	1901
MP	Lisa Chesters
Party	Labor
Namesake	Bendigo, Victoria
Electors	102,934 (2013)[1]
Area	6,255 km2 (2,415.1 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Bendigo is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the city of Bendigo.

The division is situated on the northern foothills of the Great Dividing Range in North Central Victoria. It covers an area of approximately 6,255 square kilometres (2,415 sq mi) and provides the southern gateway to the Murray Darling Basin. In addition to the city of Bendigo, other large population centres in the division include Castlemaine, Heathcote, Kyneton and Woodend.^[2]

The current Member for the Division of Bendigo, since the 2013 federal election, is Lisa Chesters, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

History

In the early years of federation the seat consisted of little more than Bendigo itself, but on later boundaries the seat has included towns such as Echuca, Castlemaine, Maryborough and Seymour.

Bendigo is a marginal seat, changing hands regularly between the Labor Party and the conservative parties; typically mirroring voting patterns in state elections.^[3] Bendigo has had 15 members, the second-highest number (with Denison) of any federal electorate.^{[citation needed]}

Its most notable members have been its first member, Sir John Quick, who was a leading federalist, and Prime Minister Billy Hughes, who although from Sydney represented Bendigo for two terms at a time when the federal Parliament met in Melbourne and who moved to this seat after leaving the Labor Party over conscription, holding the seat as member of the Nationalist Party. John Brumby, who held the seat from 1983 to 1990, later became Premier of Victoria. Brumby was defeated in Bendigo at the 1990 election by a former state Legislative Councillor, Bruce Reid, who retained the seat narrowly in 1993 and 1996, before retiring at the 1998 election when a 4.3% swing delivered the seat to Labor's Steve Gibbons. Reid has a minor claim to fame in history by being the third candidate in the contest for Liberal leadership between John Hewson and John Howard after the 1993 election defeat. Reid attracted one vote, presumably his own.^[3]

Members

Election results

References

External links

• Division of Bendigo - Australian Electoral Commission

Coordinates: 36°54′04″S 144°10′55″E / 36.901°S 144.182°E / -36.901; 144.182