Electoral district of Bendigo West
Encyclopedia
Bendigo West is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly
in the Australia
n state of Victoria
. It is a 2,633 km² electorate based around the city of Bendigo and surrounding rural towns. It encompasses the localities of Bendigo City
, California Gully
, Castlemaine
, Harcourt
, Long Gully
, Maldon
, Marong
, Newstead
and West Bendigo. It also includes parts of the Bendigo suburbs of Eaglehawk
, Golden Square
and Kangaroo Flat
. The electorate had a population of 54,859 as of the 2006 census, with 41,682 enrolled electors at the 2010 state election.
Bendigo West has generally been a safe seat for the Labor parties throughout its history. It was created in 1904, when it was won by Labor candidate David Smith
. Smith was re-elected several times, but was expelled from the party in 1911 over his support for introducing scripture lessons into state schools. He sat as an independent until the Labor Party split of 1917, when he joined Billy Hughes
' rival National Labor Party
, which subsequently became the Nationalist Party of Australia
. Smith did not contest the 1924 election, and the seat returned to the Labor fold, being won by Arthur Cook. The seat was merged with Bendigo East
in 1927, with Cook going on to serve as the member for Bendigo.
The electorate was recreated as a separate district in 1985, when it was won by former federal MP David Kennedy. Kennedy was defeated by Liberal Max Turner
amidst the Liberal landslide win at the 1992 state election, but Turner lasted only one term before being defeated by Labor candidate Bob Cameron in 1996. Cameron was comfortably re-elected in 1999, 2002, and 2006, and left a margin of more than 10% for Maree Edwards
to defend at the 2010 election
. He served as Minister for Emergency Services in the Brumby
government.
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...
in the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n state of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
. It is a 2,633 km² electorate based around the city of Bendigo and surrounding rural towns. It encompasses the localities of Bendigo City
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
, California Gully
California Gully, Victoria
California Gully is a suburb of Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. The suburb is located north west of the Bendigo city centre along Eaglehawk Rd. At the 2006 census, California Gully had a population of 3,844....
, Castlemaine
Castlemaine, Victoria
Castlemaine is a city in Victoria, Australia, in the Goldfields region of Victoria about 120 kilometres northwest by road from Melbourne, and about 40 kilometres from the major provincial centre of Bendigo. It is the administrative and economic centre of the Shire of Mount Alexander. The...
, Harcourt
Harcourt, Victoria
Harcourt is a small Central Highlands town located approximately 9 km northeast of Castlemaine, where the Midland Highway meets the Calder Highway. At the 2006 census, Harcourt had a population of 439.-History:...
, Long Gully
Long Gully, Victoria
Long Gully is a suburb of the regional city of Bendigo in Victoria, Australia. The suburb is located north west of the Bendigo central business district. At the 2006 census, Long Gully had a population of 3,289....
, Maldon
Maldon, Victoria
Maldon is a town in Victoria, Australia, in the Shire of Mount Alexander local government area. It has been designated "Australia's first notable town" and is celebrated for its 19th-century appearance, maintained since gold-rush days...
, Marong
Marong, Victoria
Marong is a town in Victoria, Australia. At the 2001 census, Marong had a population of 393. It is located kilometres to the west of Bendigo. Its local government area is the City of Greater Bendigo...
, Newstead
Newstead, Victoria
Newstead is a town in Victoria, Australia, situated along the Loddon River. It is in the Shire of Mount Alexander local government area. At the 2006 census, Newstead had a population of 487...
and West Bendigo. It also includes parts of the Bendigo suburbs of Eaglehawk
Eaglehawk, Victoria
Eaglehawk is a former gold-mining town in Victoria, Australia and a suburb within the City of Greater Bendigo.The town is situated to the north-west of Bendigo on the Loddon Valley Highway. The highway is known locally as High Street until the intersection with Sailors Gully Road and as Peg Leg...
, Golden Square
Golden Square, Victoria
Golden Square is a suburb of Bendigo in Victoria, Australia.-Today:Golden Square is home to The Bulldogs Football and Netball Team competing in the Bendigo Football League...
and Kangaroo Flat
Kangaroo Flat, Victoria
Kangaroo Flat is an outer suburb of Bendigo in Victoria, Australia. The suburb is neighbours with Golden Square.-History:Prior to the gold rush the Bendigo district was part of a large station "the Ravenswood Run". The discovery of very significant gold deposits in the 1850's resulted in a huge...
. The electorate had a population of 54,859 as of the 2006 census, with 41,682 enrolled electors at the 2010 state election.
Bendigo West has generally been a safe seat for the Labor parties throughout its history. It was created in 1904, when it was won by Labor candidate David Smith
David Smith (Victorian politician)
David Smith was an Australian politician.Born at a sheepstead near Bendigo to miner James Smith and Agnes Thompson, he attended schools in Bendigo before becomming a blacksmith, spending periods in Yarraville and Mirboo North. Around 1886 he married Agnes Elizabeth Reed, with whom he had two sons...
. Smith was re-elected several times, but was expelled from the party in 1911 over his support for introducing scripture lessons into state schools. He sat as an independent until the Labor Party split of 1917, when he joined Billy Hughes
Billy Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
' rival National Labor Party
National Labor Party
The National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I...
, which subsequently became the Nationalist Party of Australia
Nationalist Party of Australia
The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...
. Smith did not contest the 1924 election, and the seat returned to the Labor fold, being won by Arthur Cook. The seat was merged with Bendigo East
Electoral district of Bendigo East
Bendigo East is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is a 2,086 km² electorate based around the city of Bendigo, encompassing the localities of Axedale, Bendigo, Bendigo East, Bridgewater, Epsom, Flora Hill, Goornong, Huntly, Kennington,...
in 1927, with Cook going on to serve as the member for Bendigo.
The electorate was recreated as a separate district in 1985, when it was won by former federal MP David Kennedy. Kennedy was defeated by Liberal Max Turner
Max Turner (politician)
Maxwell John "Max" Turner is a former Australian politician.Born in Bendigo, Victoria, he attended Huntly Primary School and Bendigo High School, leaving in year 10 and working in the building industry from 1963 to 1965. In 1965 he joined the Victoria Police Force's Criminal Investigation Branch,...
amidst the Liberal landslide win at the 1992 state election, but Turner lasted only one term before being defeated by Labor candidate Bob Cameron in 1996. Cameron was comfortably re-elected in 1999, 2002, and 2006, and left a margin of more than 10% for Maree Edwards
Maree Edwards
Janice Maree Edwards is an Australian politician. She has been the member for Bendigo West in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010....
to defend at the 2010 election
Victorian state election, 2010
The 2010 Victorian state election was held on 27 November. The incumbent centre-left Australian Labor Party government, led by John Brumby, was defeated by the centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition, led by Ted Baillieu....
. He served as Minister for Emergency Services in the Brumby
John Brumby
John Mansfield Brumby , is an Australian Labor Party politician who was Premier of Victoria from 2007 to 2010. He became Premier after the resignation of Steve Bracks. He also served as the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and the Minister for Multicultural Affairs. He contested his first election...
government.
Members for Bendigo West
| First incarnation (1904–1927) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| David Smith David Smith (Victorian politician) David Smith was an Australian politician.Born at a sheepstead near Bendigo to miner James Smith and Agnes Thompson, he attended schools in Bendigo before becomming a blacksmith, spending periods in Yarraville and Mirboo North. Around 1886 he married Agnes Elizabeth Reed, with whom he had two sons... |
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... |
1904–1914 | |
| Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do... |
1914–1917 | ||
| National Labor National Labor Party The National Labor Party was the name used by the Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes for himself and his followers after he was expelled from the Australian Labor Party in November 1916 over his pro-conscription stance in relation to World War I... |
1917–1920 | ||
| Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime... |
1920–1924 | ||
| Arthur Cook | 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... |
1924–1927 | |
| Second incarnation (1985–present) | |||
| Member | Party | Term | |
| David Kennedy | 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... |
1985–1992 | |
| Max Turner Max Turner (politician) Maxwell John "Max" Turner is a former Australian politician.Born in Bendigo, Victoria, he attended Huntly Primary School and Bendigo High School, leaving in year 10 and working in the building industry from 1963 to 1965. In 1965 he joined the Victoria Police Force's Criminal Investigation Branch,... |
Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office... |
1992–1996 | |
| Bob Cameron | 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... |
1996–2010 | |
| Maree Edwards Maree Edwards Janice Maree Edwards is an Australian politician. She has been the member for Bendigo West in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010.... |
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... |
2010–present | |
Election results
See also
- Parliaments of the Australian states and territoriesParliaments of the Australian states and territoriesThe Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing, with parliaments which had come into existence at various...
- List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly