Division of Wakefield

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Wakefield
Australian House of Representatives Division
State or territory: South Australia
Created: 1903
MP: Nick Champion
Party: Labor
Namesake: Edward Gibbon Wakefield
Electors: 95,722
Area: 6,155 km² (2,376.5 sq mi)
Demographic: Rural

The Division of Wakefield is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of South Australia. It is located north of Adelaide, incorporating the outer northern suburbs of Salisbury and Elizabeth, and extending north as far as Clare. It covers the east coast of the Gulf Saint Vincent north of Adelaide, all the way to Port Wakefield. It also includes the towns of Balaklava, Tarlee, Kapunda and Gawler.

The Division was named after Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who promoted colonisation as a tool for social engineering, plans which formed the basis for settlements in South Australia, Western Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It was proclaimed at the redistribution of 2 October 1903, when South Australia was first broken up into Divisions. It was first contested at the 1903 Federal election. It was first held by Hon Sir Frederick Holder, the first Speaker of the House, who was also twice the Premier of South Australia. It has previously been held by Neil Andrew, a former Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives.

Before the redistribution for the 2004 election, Wakefield was predominantly rural with a large Liberal margin, including the Barossa Valley area, but not the Salisbury, Elizabeth and Smithfield areas. The northern suburbs were added to Wakefield when the Division of Bonython was abolished by the redistribution. As a result, the hybrid urban-rural seat became marginal.

Contents

[edit] Members

Member Party Term
  Frederick Holder Independent 1903—1909
  Richard Foster Commonwealth Liberal 1909—1916
  Nationalist 1916—1928
  Maurice Collins Country 1928—1929
  Charles Hawker Nationalist 1929—1931
  United Australia 1931—1938
  Sydney McHugh Labor 1938—1940
  John Duncan-Hughes United Australia 1940—1943
  Albert Smith Labor 1943—1946
  Philip McBride Liberal 1946—1951
  Liberal & Country 1951—1954
  Liberal 1954—1958
  Bert Kelly Liberal 1958—1977
  Geoffrey Giles Liberal 1977—1983
  Neil Andrew Liberal 1983—2004
  David Fawcett Liberal 2004—2007
  Nick Champion Labor 2007—present

[edit] Election results

Australian federal election, 2007: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Nick Champion 42,249 48.65 +6.28
Liberal David Fawcett 33,600 38.69 -5.12
Family First Bruce Nairn 4,483 5.16 -0.27
Greens Terry Allen 3,589 4.13 -0.02
Democrats Felicity Martin 1,016 1.17 -0.50
One Nation Peter Fitzpatrick 832 0.96 -1.60
What Women Want Pauline Edmunds 793 0.91 +0.91
Liberty and Democracy Martin Walsh 284 0.33 +0.33
Total formal votes 86,846 95.34 +1.82
Informal votes 4,246 4.66 -1.82
Turnout 91,092 95.16 +0.18
Two Candidate Preferred Result
Labor Nick Champion 49,142 56.59 +7.26
Liberal David Fawcett 37,704 43.41 -7.26
Labor gain from Liberal Swing +7.26
Australian federal election, 2004: Wakefield
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal David Fawcett 35,320 43.81 +4.73
Labor Martyn Evans 34,159 42.37 +3.40
Family First David G Pointon 4,379 5.43 +5.43
Greens Patricia Murray 3,346 4.15 +1.00
One Nation David Dwyer 2,066 2.56 -4.34
Democrats Richard Way 1,346 1.67 -7.87
Total formal votes 80,616 93.52 -0.05
Informal votes 5,585 6.48 +0.05
Turnout 86,585 94.98 +0.08
Two Candidate Preferred Result
Liberal David Fawcett 40,848 50.67 +1.93
Labor Martyn Evans 39,768 49.33 -1.93
Liberal gain from Labor Swing +1.93

[edit] References

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Electoral Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in South Australia

Adelaide · Barker · Boothby · Grey · Hindmarsh · Kingston · Makin · Mayo · Port Adelaide · Sturt · Wakefield

Abolished: Angas (1903-34) · Angas (1949-77) · Bonython · Hawker · South Australia
Divisions in: New South Wales · Victoria · Queensland · Western Australia · South Australia · Tasmania · Australian Capital and Northern Territories