Division of Gellibrand

The Division of Gellibrand (Template:IPAc-en) is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1949 and is named after Joseph Gellibrand, a pioneer settler of the Melbourne area. It is located in the industrial inner western suburbs of Melbourne.

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.

Gellibrand is located in the industrial inner western suburbs of Melbourne and includes Altona, Altona North, Altona Meadows, Kingsville, Laverton, Laverton North, Newport, Seabrook, Seaholme, Seddon, South Kingsville, Williams Landing, Williamstown and Williamstown North; and parts of Point Cook and Truganina.

History

File:Joseph Gellibrand.jpg

Joseph Gellibrand, the division's namesake

The Division has been held by the Australian Labor Party for its entire existence; it is located in Labor's traditional heartland of western Melbourne, and is characterised by a very diverse, multicultural population. Labor has never tallied less than 60 percent of the two-party vote, and until 2010 always won an outright majority on first preferences alone.

Its most prominent members have been Ralph Willis, a Cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, and Nicola Roxon, a Cabinet minister in the Rudd government and the Gillard government and first female Attorney-General.

In recent years there has been considerable gentrification in the inner-city suburbs such as Footscray, Williamstown and Yarraville, and a consequent rise in the progressive Greens vote, which rose to 37 percent in Footscray in the 2013 election. In the west, a solid patch of working-class suburbia remain strongly Labor-leaning.

For several years, Gellibrand was Labor's safest seat in the Federal Parliament. The current member for Gellibrand since the 2013 election is Labor's Tim Watts.

Members

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
Template:Australian party style|	File:JackMullens1950.jpg	Jack Mullens (1896–1978)	Labor	10 December 1949 – April 1955	Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Footscray. Did not contest and failed to win the Division of Melbourne in 1955
Template:Australian party style|			Labor (Anti-Communist)	April 1955 – 10 December 1955
Template:Australian party style|	File:HectorMcIvor1965.jpg	Hector McIvor (1900–1992)	Labor	10 December 1955 – 2 November 1972	Retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:Ralph Willis.jpg	Ralph Willis (1938–)		2 December 1972 – 31 August 1998	Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:Nicola Roxon Portrait 2012.jpg	Nicola Roxon (1967–)		3 October 1998 – 5 August 2013	Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired
Template:Australian party style|	File:Tim Watts crop.jpg	Tim Watts (1982–)		7 September 2013 – present	Incumbent

External links

• Division of Gellibrand - Australian Electoral Commission