Electoral district of Frome
| Frome South Australia—House of Assembly | |
|---|---|
|
Electoral district of Frome (green) in South Australia | |
| State | South Australia |
| Dates current |
1884–1902, 1938–1977, 1993–present |
| MP | Geoff Brock |
| Party | Independent |
| Namesake | Edward Charles Frome |
| Electors | 25,228 (2014) |
| Area | 8,266 km2 (3,191.5 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Rural |
| Coordinates | 33°44′16″S 138°20′18″E / 33.73778°S 138.33833°ECoordinates: 33°44′16″S 138°20′18″E / 33.73778°S 138.33833°E |
Frome is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia.[1] It is named after Edward Charles Frome, the third surveyor-general of South Australia. The electorate is seated in the industrial city of Port Pirie and the agriculture areas of Clare and Gilbert Valleys. It covers a total of 8,266 km² and takes in the towns of Auburn, Clare, Crystal Brook, Mintaro, Port Broughton, Port Pirie, Saddleworth, Snowtown and Riverton.
Frome has existed in three incarnations throughout the history of the House of Assembly: as a multi-member marginal electorate from 1884 to 1902, as a single member electorate from 1938 to 1977, and as a marginal to moderately safe seat for the Liberal Party of Australia since 1993.
The first incarnation was, like the rest of the state, independent-held until the development of the party system until in the 1890s. The two seats were split evenly with a conservative and a liberal member from 1890 until the seat's abolition in 1902.
The second incarnation began in 1938 after the introduction of the Playmander. It was based around the area north of Port Pirie, and was originally a Labor stronghold. The seat was won by Mick O'Halloran, who served as Opposition Leader from 1949 until his death in 1960. After the Playmander was significantly diluted by the 1970 electoral reforms, Frome took in more rural areas around Port Pirie, and was lost by Labor to the Liberal and Country League. The LCL, which later became the South Australia division of the Liberal Party, went on to hold Frome until the abolition of the seat in 1977.
The third and current incarnation was created at the 1991 redistribution as a marginal seat, which took in Port Pirie and surrounding rural areas. The seat was first contested at the 1993 election and was held by Liberal Rob Kerin until 2009. Despite the presence of the Labor stronghold of Port Pirie, Labor has never won this incarnation, in part due to the balance of the surrounding rural Liberal area. Labor did however win 50.1 percent of the two-party vote at the 2010 election, but the seat was retained by incumbent independent Geoff Brock.
The seats of Pirie and Port Pirie have also historically existed.
Kerin chose to retire in November 2008, which triggered a January 2009 by-election. The seat was won by Brock, the popular mayor of Port Pirie Regional Council, after a very close preference contest in which Brock narrowly edged the Labor candidate for second place behind the Liberals. Brock received sufficient preferences from the eliminated Labor candidate to prevail over the Liberal candidate by over 600 votes, or 51.7 percent of the two-candidate vote. He increased his primary and two-candidate vote significantly at the 2010 election.
The 2012 redistribution saw the traditional two-party-preferred margin in Frome go from 0.1 percent Labor to 1.7 percent Liberal.[2] Brock retained the seat at the 2014 election with a slight uptick in his margin. His decision to back a Labor minority government allowed Labor to win a record fourth four-year term in government.
Members for Frome
| First incarnation (1884–1902, two members) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member1 | Party | Term | Member2 | Party | Term | ||
| Ebenezer Ward | 1884–1890 | William Copley | 1884–1887 | ||||
| Laurence O'Loughlin | 1890–1891 | Clement Giles | 1887–1891 | ||||
| Defence League | 1891–1896 | Defence League | 1891–1896 | ||||
| 1896–1902 | National League | 1896–1902 | |||||
| Second incarnation (1938–1977) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Mick O'Halloran | Labor | 1938–1960 | |
| Tom Casey | Labor | 1960–1970 | |
| Ernest Allen | Liberal and Country | 1970–1974 | |
| Liberal | 1974–1977 | ||
| Third incarnation (1993–present) | |||
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Rob Kerin | Liberal | 1993–2008 | |
| Geoff Brock | Independent | 2009–present | |
Election results
| South Australian state election, 2014: Frome[3][4][5] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Independent | Geoff Brock | 10,342 | 45.2 | +10.1 | |
| Liberal | Kendall Jackson | 8,217 | 35.9 | −2.7 | |
| Labor | Marcus Connelly | 2,598 | 11.3 | −7.1 | |
| Family First | Wendy Joyce | 1,156 | 5.1 | +1.9 | |
| Greens | Rob Scott | 578 | 2.5 | −0.6 | |
| Total formal votes | 22,891 | 97.6 | +0.3 | ||
| Informal votes | 566 | 2.4 | −0.3 | ||
| Turnout | 23,457 | 93.0 | −1.8 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Kendall Jackson | 60.8 | +9.1 | ||
| Labor | Marcus Connelly | 39.2 | −9.1 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Independent | Geoff Brock | 13,451 | 58.8 | +2.1 | |
| Liberal | Kendall Jackson | 9,440 | 41.2 | −2.1 | |
| Independent hold | Swing | +2.1 | |||
Notes
- ↑ "Statistical Record of the Legislature 1836 to 2009" (PDF). Parliament of South Australia.
- ↑ "Final redistribution report". Electoral Commission of South Australia.
- ↑ 2014 State Election Results – Frome, ECSA.
- ↑ 2014 State Election Results – Frome, ABC.
- ↑ 2014 SA election pendulum: Antony Green ABC
References
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