Division of Barker

Barker Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Barker (green) in South Australia
Created:	1903
MP:	Patrick Secker
Party:	Liberal
Namesake:	Collet Barker
Area:	64,015 km² (24,716 sq mi)
Demographic:	Rural

The Division of Barker is an Australian Electoral Division in the south-east of South Australia.

The division was created in 1903 and is named for Collet Barker, an early explorer of the region at the mouth of the Murray River. It has always been based in the south-eastern rural areas of South Australia, centred on Bordertown and Mount Gambier, but in recent years its boundaries have been extended to the north to include Riverland towns such as Renmark. Barker has always been a safe seat for the conservative parties and has been held continuously by the Liberal Party since that party's creation in 1944. The seat became particularly safe after the expansion of parliament in 1949 which removed the division's city territory around Glenelg. Its most prominent members have been Archie Cameron, a leader of the Country Party and later Speaker of the House and Ian McLachlan, a Cabinet minister in the Howard government.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Langdon Bonython	Protectionist	1903–1906
	John Livingston	Anti-Socialist	1906–1909
		Commonwealth Liberal	1909–1916
		Nationalist	1916–1922
	Malcolm Cameron	Liberal Union	1922–1925
		Nationalist	1925–1931
		United Australia	1931–1934
	Archie Cameron	Country	1934–1940
		United Australia	1940–1944
		Liberal	1944–1956
	Jim Forbes	Liberal	1956–1975
	James Porter	Liberal	1975–1990
	Ian McLachlan	Liberal	1990–1998
	Patrick Secker	Liberal	1998–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Barker

Australian federal election, 2010: Barker
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Patrick Secker	51,810	54.96	+8.15
	Labor	Simone McDonnell	26,433	28.04	-2.03
	Greens	Sean Moffat	8,607	9.13	+4.06
	Family First	Trevor Honeychurch	5,829	6.18	+0.46
	Climate Sceptics	Steven Davies	1,591	1.69	+1.69
Total formal votes			94,270	94.54	-1.61
Informal votes			5,443	5.46	+1.61
Turnout			99,713	95.07	-0.90
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal	Patrick Secker	59,278	62.88	+3.43
	Labor	Simone McDonnell	34,992	37.12	-3.43
	Liberal hold		Swing	+3.43

References

• Division of Barker - Australian Electoral Commission