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Division of Flinders

Coordinates: 38°20′46″S 145°19′26″E / 38.346°S 145.324°E / -38.346; 145.324
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Flinders
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Flinders in Victoria, as of the 2022 federal election
Created1901
MPZoe McKenzie
PartyLiberal
NamesakeMatthew Flinders
Electors114,542 (2022)
Area871 km2 (336.3 sq mi)
DemographicSemi-rural
Electorates around Flinders:
Port Phillip Dunkley Holt
Port Phillip Flinders Western Port
Bass Strait Bass Strait Western Port

The Division of Flinders is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division is one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named after Matthew Flinders, the first man to circumnavigate Australia, and the person credited with giving Australia its name.

Originally a country seat south and east of Melbourne, Flinders is now based on the outer southern suburbs on the Mornington Peninsula, including Dromana, Hastings and Portsea. Even though Melbourne's suburban growth has long since spilled onto the peninsula, Flinders is still counted as a rural seat.

As of 2022, Flinders is the Liberal Party's only safe seat in Melbourne.

Geography

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Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at re-distributions by a re-distribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Re-distributions 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.[1]

History

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Matthew Flinders, the division's namesake

It has usually been a fairly safe seat for the Liberal Party and its predecessors, who have held it for all but six years since its creation. However, it has occasionally been won by the Australian Labor Party, notably at the 1929 federal election when Prime Minister Stanley Bruce was defeated. This was the first of two times an incumbent Australian prime minister lost his own seat at a general election; the second time was not until Liberal Prime Minister John Howard lost his seat of Bennelong at the 2007 federal election.

The seat's most prominent member was Bruce, who held it for all but two years from 1918 to 1933. Other prominent former members include Jack Holloway, the Labor challenger who ousted Bruce and later a senior minister in the Curtin and Chifley governments (though he was the member for Melbourne Ports by then) and two deputy Liberal leaders – Sir Phillip Lynch (a minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments) and Peter Reith (a minister in the Howard government).

Members

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Image Member Party Term Notes
  Arthur Groom
(1852–1922)
Free Trade 29 March 1901
23 November 1903
Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Gippsland West. Retired
  James Gibb
(1843–1919)
16 December 1903
1906
Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Mornington. Did not contest in 1906. Failed to win the Division of Hume
  Anti-Socialist 1906 –
12 December 1906
  Sir William Irvine
(1858–1943)
12 December 1906
26 May 1909
Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Lowan. Served as minister under Cook. Resigned to become Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court
  Liberal 26 May 1909 –
17 February 1917
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
5 April 1918
  Stanley Bruce
(1883–1967)
11 May 1918
12 October 1929
Served as minister under Hughes. Served as Prime Minister from 1923 to 1929. Lost seat
  Jack Holloway
(1875–1967)
Labor 12 October 1929
19 December 1931
Transferred to the Division of Melbourne Ports
  Stanley Bruce
(1883–1967)
United Australia 19 December 1931
6 October 1933
Served as minister under Lyons. Resigned to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
  James Fairbairn
(1897–1940)
11 November 1933
13 August 1940
Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Warrnambool. Served as minister under Menzies. Died in office.
  Rupert Ryan
(1884–1952)
21 September 1940
21 February 1945
Died in office
  Liberal 21 February 1945 –
25 August 1952
  Keith Ewert
(1918–1989)
Labor 18 October 1952
29 May 1954
Lost seat
  Robert Lindsay
(1905–2000)
Liberal 29 May 1954
31 October 1966
Retired
  Sir Phillip Lynch
(1933–1984)
26 November 1966
22 October 1982
Served as minister under Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Resigned due to ill health
  Peter Reith
(1950–2022)
4 December 1982
5 March 1983
Lost seat
  Bob Chynoweth
(1941–)
Labor 5 March 1983
1 December 1984
Transferred to the Division of Dunkley
  Peter Reith
(1950–2022)
Liberal 1 December 1984
8 October 2001
Served as minister under Howard. Retired
  Greg Hunt
(1965–)
10 November 2001
11 April 2022
Served as minister under Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. Retired
  Zoe McKenzie
(1972–)
21 May 2022
present
Incumbent

Election results

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2022 Australian federal election: Flinders[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Zoe McKenzie 43,013 43.49 −3.23
Labor Surbhi Snowball 21,487 21.73 −3.01
Greens Colin Lane 9,293 9.40 +2.59
Independent Despi O'Connor 7,163 7.24 +7.24
Independent Sarah Russell 5,189 5.25 +5.25
United Australia Alex van der End 4,472 4.52 +2.00
One Nation Cyndi Marr 3,373 3.41 +3.41
Liberal Democrats Chrysten Abraham 2,366 2.39 +2.39
Animal Justice Pamela Engelander 2,060 2.08 −0.30
Australian Federation Jefferson Earl 486 0.49 +0.49
Total formal votes 98,902 94.56 +0.50
Informal votes 5,687 5.44 −0.50
Turnout 104,589 91.41 −1.82
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Zoe McKenzie 56,075 56.70 +1.06
Labor Surbhi Snowball 42,827 43.30 −1.06
Liberal hold Swing +1.06

References

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  1. ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ Flinders, VIC, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
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38°20′46″S 145°19′26″E / 38.346°S 145.324°E / -38.346; 145.324