Division of Chisholm

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions 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.

Since 2022, the Division has encompassed the suburbs of Ashwood, Blackburn, Blackburn South, Box Hill, Box Hill South, Burwood, Burwood East, Glen Waverley, Laburnum, Mount Waverley, Notting Hill, Syndal and Wheelers Hill. Additionally, the Division also includes parts of Chadstone, Clayton, Mulgrave and Oakleigh.

The Division of Chisholm consists of part of the local government areas of Monash City Council and Whitehorse City Council.

Demographics

The Division of Chisholm has a diverse population, with around 54% of its residents being born overseas. Approximately 55% of the population speak a language other than English at home, with Chinese Australians making around 30% of the population. The seat has the largest Chinese community of any electorate in all of Australia.

History

On its original boundaries, it was a comfortably safe Liberal seat centred on Camberwell. However, successive redistributions from 1980 onward have moved the electorate south-east, taking in strongly Labor-voting suburbs to balance out the relatively affluent Liberal-leaning suburbs in the north of the seat, and making the seat marginal. The first member for Chisholm, Sir Wilfrid Kent Hughes, was one of Australia's most distinguished soldiers and a former Olympian, who held the seat until his death on 31 July 1970.

Labor finally took the seat in the 1983 landslide that brought Bob Hawke to power, only to lose it in 1987. Anna Burke became the second Labor member ever to win it in 1998 election and held it until her retirement in 2016. Julia Banks won the seat for the Liberals at the 2016 election, becoming the only Liberal challenger to take a seat from Labor at that election. Taking this seat off Labor turned out to be crucial in ensuring the Coalition retaining its majority; it meant they had 76 seats, as opposed to the 75 they would have had if Labor had retained this seat.

On 27 November 2018, Banks resigned from the Liberal Party due to disaffection with the party resulting from the leadership spill which removed Malcolm Turnbull as Prime Minister and the treatment of women within the party. Banks announced she would sit on the crossbench as an independent, but guarantee confidence and supply to the Morrison government.

Gladys Liu won Chisholm in the 2019 election for the Liberal Party against Jennifer Yang by less than 0.6%, becoming the first Chinese Australian to enter the lower house.

In 2022, Labor's Dr Carina Garland won the seat from Liberal incumbent Liu. The loss of the seat in 2022 to Labor has been attributed to the notably large swings against the Liberal Party among Chinese Australian voters which has cost the Liberal Party many key seats.

Members

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Chisholm

References

References

1. Australian Electoral Commission. "Profile of the electoral division of Chisholm (Vic)".
2. (2022-04-28). "'For the first time ever I'm undecided': This seat could decide who forms government, but what are voters saying?". ABC News.
3. (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide".
4. "2021 Chisholm, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021.
5. Chang, Charis. (2018-11-27). "Julia Banks delivers scathing review of major parties after resigning from the Liberal Party". news.com.au.
6. "Gladys Liu becomes first Chinese-Australian woman to enter lower house".
7. Dziedzic, foreign affairs reporter Stephen. (2019-05-21). "Morrison secures majority Government with historic win of first female Chinese-Australian MP in Chisholm".
8. "Chinese-Australian voters punished Coalition for hostile rhetoric". Sydney Morning Herald.