- Division of Indi
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Indi
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Indi (green) in VictoriaCreated: 1900 MP: Sophie Mirabella Party: Liberal Namesake: Murray River (Aboriginal name) Area: 28,008 km² (10,814 sq mi) Demographic: Rural The Division of Indi (pronounced /ɪnˈdaɪ/) is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. It is located in north-eastern Victoria. Its northern border is formed by the Murray River (which also serves as the Victorian-New South Wales border). It is bounded to the south-east by the Division of Gippsland, the border being roughly the watershed separating the Murray basin from Gippsland's catchment in the remote and almost completely uninhabited Australian Alps. To the south, the seat shares a small boundary with the Division of McMillan, including the isolated village of Woods Point. To the west, it also borders on the divisions of McEwen, Bendigo and Murray.
The largest settlements in the division are Wodonga, Wangaratta, and Benalla. Other towns in the electorate include Rutherglen, Mansfield, Beechworth, Myrtleford, Corryong, Tallangatta, Euroa and a number of other small villages (notably including the ski resort of Falls Creek).
While Indi is one of the largest electorates in Victoria, much of it is located within the Alpine National Park and is thus uninhabited. While Wodonga serves as a regional hub for much of the more heavily populated northern part of the electorate, the southern part is closer to Melbourne than Wodonga.
Indi has existed continuously since Federation. It was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It has been held by one of the conservative parties (either the Liberal Party of Australia, the National Party of Australia, or the United Australia Party) since 1931. The seat has traditionally been filled by candidates who might be described as "rural gentry" who have not tended to advance beyond the back bench, but this has changed when in 2001 Sophie Mirabella, a formerly city-based female barrister, was elected and has proved very popular, winning with 66% of the two-party preferred vote in the 2004 Australian federal election.
The most nationally prominent person to represent Indi to date was the first, Sir Isaac Isaacs, who rose to become Attorney General, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, and the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. Another member for Indi, John "Black Jack" McEwen, was a long-serving Minister and was briefly Prime Minister of Australia after the death of Harold Holt in 1967, but he was member for Murray by then.
Members
Member Party Term Isaac Isaacs Protectionist 1901–1906 Joseph Brown Anti-Socialist 1906–1909 Commonwealth Liberal 1909–1910 Parker Moloney Labor 1910–1913 Cornelius Ahern Commonwealth Liberal 1913–1914 Parker Moloney Labor 1914–1917 John Leckie Nationalist 1917–1919 Robert Cook Country 1919–1928 Paul Jones Labor 1928–1931 William Hutchinson United Australia 1931–1937 John McEwen Country 1937–1949 William Bostock Liberal 1949–1958 Mac Holten Country 1958–1975 National Country 1975–1977 Ewen Cameron Liberal 1977–1993 Lou Lieberman Liberal 1993–2001 Sophie Mirabella Liberal 2001–present Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of IndiAustralian federal election, 2010: Indi Party Candidate Votes % ±% Liberal Sophie Mirabella 44,555 52.62 -1.76 Labor Zuvele Leschen 23,034 27.20 -4.92 Greens Jenny O'Connor 8,000 9.45 +1.87 Independent Alan Lappin 4,945 5.84 +5.84 Family First Robert Cavedon 3,190 3.77 -0.05 Democrats Mark Carey 947 1.12 -0.57 Total formal votes 84,671 96.09 -1.23 Informal votes 3,449 3.91 +1.23 Turnout 88,120 94.80 -1.00 Two-candidate preferred result Liberal Sophie Mirabella 50,755 59.94 +0.75 Labor Zuvele Leschen 33,916 40.06 -0.75 Liberal hold Swing +0.75 References
- Division of Indi, Australian Electoral Commission
Electoral divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in Victoria Aston · Ballarat · Batman · Bendigo · Bruce · Calwell · Casey · Chisholm · Corangamite · Corio · Deakin · Dunkley · Flinders · Gellibrand · Gippsland · Goldstein · Gorton · Higgins · Holt · Hotham · Indi · Isaacs · Jagajaga · Kooyong · Lalor · La Trobe · Mallee · Maribyrnong · McEwen · McMillan · Melbourne · Melbourne Ports · Menzies · Murray · Scullin · Wannon · Wills
Abolished: Balaclava · Bourke · Burke (1949-55) · Burke (1969-2004) · Corinella (1901-06) · Corinella (1990-96) · Darebin · Diamond Valley · Echuca · Fawkner · Grampians · Henty · Higinbotham · Hoddle · Isaacs (1949-69) · Laanecoorie · Mernda · Moira · Northern Melbourne · Scullin (1955-69) · Southern Melbourne · Streeton · Wimmera · Yarra
Divisions in: New South Wales · Victoria · Queensland · Western Australia · South Australia · Tasmania · Australian Capital and Northern Territories Categories:- Electoral divisions of Australia
- Australian electorates contested at every election
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