Division of McEwen
McEwen Australian House of Representatives Division | |
---|---|
Division of McEwen (green) in Victoria | |
Created | 1984 |
MP | Rob Mitchell |
Party | Labor |
Namesake | John McEwen |
Electors | 111,719 (2013) |
Area | 10,675 km2 (4,121.6 sq mi) |
Demographic | Rural |
The Division of McEwen is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The electorate is located in the centre of the state, north of the capital city of Melbourne. It includes the outer northern suburbs of Craigieburn, Doreen, Mernda, Sunbury and Wollert, and extends along the Hume Highway north of the metropolitan area to include the towns of Broadford, Gisborne, Kilmore, Seymour, Wallan and Woodend as well as many other small towns.
The Division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 14 September 1984, and was first contested at the 1984 Federal election. It was named after Rt Hon Sir John McEwen, leader of the Country Party of Australia, who was appointed caretaker Prime Minister of Australia after the disappearance of Harold Holt in 1967.
The seat has always been very marginal due to its demographics. While classed as rural, it is actually a hybrid urban-rural seat split between portions of Labor's traditional heartland of north Melbourne and rural areas that tilt more toward the Liberals and Nationals.
The 2007 election resulted in McEwen becoming the most marginal seat in the country. Incumbent Liberal MP Fran Bailey led throughout most of the initial count, and was initially found to have lost to former Labor state MLC Rob Mitchell by six votes. Bailey subsequently requested and was granted a full recount, which overturned Mitchell's win and instead gave Bailey a twelve-vote victory. The result was challenged in the High Court of Australia in its capacity as the Court of Disputed Returns, and was referred to the Federal Court of Australia. Over seven months after the election and a review of 643 individual votes, the court altered the formal status of several dozen, eventually declaring Bailey the winner by 27 votes, later amended to 31 votes. Following the resolution of the long-running dispute, Bailey called for a total overhaul of the voting system.[1][2][3]
Bailey retired at the 2010 election. Mitchell again stood as the Labor candidate and won.
Ahead of the 2013 election, a redistribution pushed McEwen further into Melbourne, increasing Mitchell's notional majority to 9.2 percent and technically making it a safe Labor seat. However, Mitchell barely retained the seat against former Liberal MLC Donna Petrovich, surviving on Greens preferences. Petrovich was ahead on the primary vote and led throughout most of the initial count, however postal votes favoured Mitchell, and he ended up finishing 313 votes ahead of Petrovich. He now sits on a margin of 0.15%, making McEwen the second most marginal seat in Australia, after Fairfax.
Members
Member | Party | Term | |
---|---|---|---|
Peter Cleeland | Labor | 1984–1990 | |
Fran Bailey | Liberal | 1990–1993 | |
Peter Cleeland | Labor | 1993–1996 | |
Fran Bailey | Liberal | 1996–2010 | |
Rob Mitchell | Labor | 2010–present |
Election results
Australian federal election, 2013: McEwen[4] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
Liberal | Donna Petrovich | 40,853 | 40.34 | +4.11 | |
Labor | Rob Mitchell | 38,091 | 37.62 | −10.19 | |
Greens | Neil Barker | 7,187 | 7.10 | −3.59 | |
Palmer United | Trevor Dance | 6,822 | 6.74 | +6.74 | |
Sex Party | Victoria Nash | 3,256 | 3.22 | +3.22 | |
Family First | Barry Newton | 2,906 | 2.87 | −0.87 | |
Katter's Australian | Bruce Stevens | 997 | 0.98 | +0.98 | |
Country Alliance | Ian Cranson | 686 | 0.68 | +0.68 | |
Rise Up Australia | Ferdie Verdan | 463 | 0.46 | +0.46 | |
Total formal votes | 101,261 | 95.38 | +0.21 | ||
Informal votes | 4,910 | 4.62 | −0.21 | ||
Turnout | 106,171 | 94.83 | −1.81 | ||
Two-party-preferred result | |||||
Labor | Rob Mitchell | 50,787 | 50.15 | −9.04 | |
Liberal | Donna Petrovich | 50,474 | 49.85 | +9.04 | |
Labor hold | Swing | −9.04 | |||
References
- ↑ Doherty, Ben (3 July 2008). "Court confirms Bailey win". The Age (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ↑ "Labor loses bid to win back McEwen". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2 July 2008. Retrieved 3 July 2008.
- ↑ Mitchell v Bailey (No 2) 2008 FCA 692: Federal Court of Australia Decisions 2/7/2008
- ↑ VIC DIVISION - MCEWEN, Virtual Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission, Monday, 30 September 2013 02:38:51 PM. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
External links
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Coordinates: 37°21′43″S 145°20′49″E / 37.362°S 145.347°E