Division of Port Adelaide
Encyclopedia
The Division of Port Adelaide is an Australian Electoral Division in the state
of South Australia
. It is located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide
, covering the area around the Barker Inlet
, part of the Gulf St Vincent. It stretches from St Kilda in the north down to Grange Road, and is roughly bounded on the east by the Gawler railway line. It also includes the Mawson Lakes area. It includes the suburbs of Findon
, Woodville
, Hendon
, Croydon
, Exeter
, North Haven
, Wingfield
, Salisbury
, Buckland Park
, St Kilda
and Port Adelaide itself.
The Division was named after the suburb of Port Adelaide, the working port of Adelaide. It was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 Federal election
. The seat is currently a safe Australian Labor Party
seat with the closest the ALP has ever come to losing it was at the 1988 by-election
, where Labor candidate Rod Sawford
received 55.2 percent of the two-party vote. It currently stands, after the 2010 vote, at 70.03 percent. Port Adelaide remains the only electorate in South Australia to have voted Labor at every federal election in its existence.
A notable curiosity in recent years was that in the 1998 and 2001 federal elections, the seat was the only one in Australia where a Communist Party candidate, Michael Perth, stood for election. This was the only occasion when the Liberal Party did not preference the One Nation Party
last. He achieved less than 1 percent of the vote on each occasion.
The sitting member, Labor's Rod Sawford
, retired at the 2007 election, which saw South Australia
n Labor's historically safe seat easily won by the newly endorsed Labor candidate, unionist and former head of the Left state Labor faction Mark Butler
.
States and territories of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a union of six states and various territories. The Australian mainland is made up of five states and three territories, with the sixth state of Tasmania being made up of islands. In addition there are six island territories, known as external territories, and a...
of South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
. It is located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, covering the area around the Barker Inlet
Barker Inlet
The Barker Inlet is a tidal inlet of the Gulf St Vincent in Adelaide, South Australia, named after Captain Collet Barker who first sighted it in 1831. It contains one of the southernmost mangrove forests in the world, a dolphin sanctuary, seagrass meadows and is an important fish and shellfish...
, part of the Gulf St Vincent. It stretches from St Kilda in the north down to Grange Road, and is roughly bounded on the east by the Gawler railway line. It also includes the Mawson Lakes area. It includes the suburbs of Findon
Findon, South Australia
Findon is a western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt.-History:In 1839, George Cortis was granted the land now constituting Findon, which he subdivided in 1848...
, Woodville
Woodville, South Australia
Woodville is a suburb of Adelaide, situated about 8 kilometres northwest of the Central Business District of Adelaide. It lies within the City of Charles Sturt. The postcode of Woodville is 5011...
, Hendon
Hendon, South Australia
Hendon is an industrial suburb of Adelaide, located in the City of Charles Sturt local government area. It is around 11 km northwest of the city centre, and was the location of a sewage works and a Philips PCB factory. The Philips PCB factory is now home to Hendon Semiconductors....
, Croydon
Croydon, South Australia
Croydon is an inner northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt.-History:The land on which the suburb now stands was purchased in 1853 by Alfred Watts and Philip Levi. They laid out the Village of Croydon in 1855, comprising Croydon Farm of and lots of...
, Exeter
Exeter, South Australia
Exeter is a north-western suburb of Adelaide 14km from the CBD, on the LeFevre Peninsula, in the state of South Australia, Australia and falls under the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is adjacent to Semaphore, Birkenhead, Largs Bay and Glanville. The post code for Exeter is 5019...
, North Haven
North Haven, South Australia
North Haven is a north-western suburb of Adelaide 20 km from the CBD, in the state of South Australia, Australia and falls under the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is adjacent to Osborne and Outer Harbor. The postcode for North Haven is 5018...
, Wingfield
Wingfield, South Australia
Wingfield is a suburb situated north of Adelaide and is located on Grand Junction Road. The suburb borders Gepps Cross and Dry Creek.- Government :The suburb of Wingfield is in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield local government area....
, Salisbury
Salisbury, South Australia
Salisbury is a northern suburb in Adelaide, South Australia. It is the seat of the City of Salisbury, and in the South Australian Legislative Assembly electoral district of Ramsay and the Australian House of Representatives divisions of Wakefield and Port Adelaide...
, Buckland Park
Buckland Park, South Australia
Buckland Park is a suburb on the rural outskirts of Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. Port Wakefield Road, the main highway taking traffic to the north of Adelaide, passes through the area. Market gardening is the main activity.-References:...
, St Kilda
St Kilda, South Australia
St Kilda is a seaside suburb in Adelaide, South Australia that is home to an award-winning adventure playground, tram museum, mangrove forest walk and an abundance of birdlife. St Kilda has only a small number of houses and a 2006 population of 246...
and Port Adelaide itself.
The Division was named after the suburb of Port Adelaide, the working port of Adelaide. It was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 Federal election
Australian federal election, 1949
Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced...
. The seat is currently a safe Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
seat with the closest the ALP has ever come to losing it was at the 1988 by-election
Port Adelaide by-election, 1988
A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Port Adelaide on 26 March 1988. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP Mick Young over alleged mishandling of campaign donations....
, where Labor candidate Rod Sawford
Rod Sawford
Rodney Weston Sawford , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1988 to November 2007, representing the Division of Port Adelaide, South Australia. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and was educated at Western...
received 55.2 percent of the two-party vote. It currently stands, after the 2010 vote, at 70.03 percent. Port Adelaide remains the only electorate in South Australia to have voted Labor at every federal election in its existence.
A notable curiosity in recent years was that in the 1998 and 2001 federal elections, the seat was the only one in Australia where a Communist Party candidate, Michael Perth, stood for election. This was the only occasion when the Liberal Party did not preference the One Nation Party
One Nation Party
One Nation is a far-right and nationalist political party in Australia. It gained 22% of the vote translating to 11 of 89 seats in Queensland's unicameral legislative assembly at the 1998 state election and made major inroads into the vote of the existing parties...
last. He achieved less than 1 percent of the vote on each occasion.
The sitting member, Labor's Rod Sawford
Rod Sawford
Rodney Weston Sawford , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1988 to November 2007, representing the Division of Port Adelaide, South Australia. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and was educated at Western...
, retired at the 2007 election, which saw South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
n Labor's historically safe seat easily won by the newly endorsed Labor candidate, unionist and former head of the Left state Labor faction Mark Butler
Mark Butler
Mark Christopher Butler has been the Australian Labor Party representative for the electoral division of Port Adelaide in north-western Adelaide, South Australia since the 2007 federal election, succeeding prior Labor MP Rod Sawford....
.
Members
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Thompson Albert Thompson (Australian politician) Albert Victor Thompson was a member of the Australian House of Representatives and the South Australian House of Assembly.... |
Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
1949 Australian federal election, 1949 Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced... –1963 |
|
| Fred Birrell Fred Birrell Frederick Ronald "Fred" Birrell was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, South Australia, he was educated at state schools before becoming an auto worker. He served in the military from 1940 to 1946. From 1959 to 1963 he was the South Australian Secretary of the Vehicle Builders' Union,... |
Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
1963–1974 | |
| Mick Young Mick Young Michael Jerome Young was an Australian politician. He rose through the Australian Labor Party to become its National Secretary, before serving as a Labor member of the House of Representatives from the 1974 election to 1988... |
Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
1974 Australian federal election, 1974 Federal elections were held in Australia on 18 May 1974. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, due to a double dissolution... –1988 |
|
| Rod Sawford Rod Sawford Rodney Weston Sawford , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1988 to November 2007, representing the Division of Port Adelaide, South Australia. He was born in Adelaide, South Australia, and was educated at Western... |
Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
1988 Port Adelaide by-election, 1988 A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Port Adelaide on 26 March 1988. This was triggered by the resignation of Labor Party MP Mick Young over alleged mishandling of campaign donations.... –2007 |
|
| Mark Butler Mark Butler Mark Christopher Butler has been the Australian Labor Party representative for the electoral division of Port Adelaide in north-western Adelaide, South Australia since the 2007 federal election, succeeding prior Labor MP Rod Sawford.... |
Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
2007–present | |