Division of Flinders

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 for Matthew Flinders, the first man to circumnavigate Australia, and the person credited with giving Australia its name.

Flinders Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Flinders in Victoria, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created	1901
MP	Greg Hunt
Party	Liberal
Namesake	Matthew Flinders
Electors	110,729 (2019)
Area	871 km^2 (336.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

Originally a country seat south and east of Melbourne, Flinders is now a hybrid urban-rural seat based on the outer southern suburbs on the Mornington Peninsula, including Dromana, Hastings and Portsea.

History

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 their 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

	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)	Free Trade	16 December 1903 – 1906	Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Mornington. Did not contest in 1906. Failed to win the Division of Lyne
			Anti-Socialist	1906 – 12 December 1906
		(Sir) William Irvine (1858–1943)	Anti-Socialist	12 December 1906 – 26 May 1909	Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Lowan. Served as minister under Cook. Resigned in order to become Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court
			Commonwealth Liberal	26 May 1909 – 17 February 1917
			Nationalist	17 February 1917 – 5 April 1918
		Stanley Bruce (1883–1967)	Nationalist	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 in order to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
		James Fairbairn (1897–1940)	United Australia	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)	United Australia	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)	Liberal	26 November 1966 – 22 October 1982	Served as minister under Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Resigned due to ill health
		Peter Reith (1950–)	Liberal	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–)	Liberal	1 December 1984 – 8 October 2001	Served as minister under Howard. Retired
		Greg Hunt (1965–)	Liberal	10 November 2001 – present	Served as minister under Abbott and Turnbull. Incumbent. Currently a minister under Morrison

Election results

2019 Australian federal election: Flinders[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Greg Hunt	45,293	46.72	−3.78
	Labor	Josh Sinclair	23,982	24.74	−2.80
	Independent	Julia Banks	13,367	13.79	+13.79
	Greens	Nathan Lesslie	6,599	6.81	−4.18
	United Australia	Christine McShane	2,447	2.52	+2.52
	Animal Justice	James Persson	2,304	2.38	−1.45
	Sustainable Australia	Reade Smith	1,072	1.11	+1.11
	Independent	Susie Beveridge	948	0.98	+0.98
	Independent	Harry Dreger	940	0.97	+0.97
Total formal votes			96,952	94.06	−1.90
Informal votes			6,124	5.94	+1.90
Turnout			103,076	93.11	+2.28
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Greg Hunt	53,943	55.64	−1.37
	Labor	Josh Sinclair	43,009	44.36	+1.37
	Liberal hold		Swing	−1.37

References

1. Flinders, VIC, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

• Division of Flinders - Australian Electoral Commission