Electoral district of Altona

Altona Victoria—Legislative Assembly
State or territory:	Victoria
Created:	1992
MP:	Jill Hennessy
Party:	Australian Labor Party
Electors:	47,680 (2010)
Area:	129 km² (50 sq mi)
Demographic:	Outer Metropolitan

The Electoral district of Altona is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly more commonly called the Lower House. It is located in Melbourne's western suburbs in traditional working class territory.

Boundaries

The district is located in a growth belt of Melbourne. The main part of the district are the suburbs of Altona and Laverton which are predominantly working class. The district also includes the middle class Point Cook and Sanctuary Lakes areas in the southern section of the district. The district also includes the eastern section of Hoppers Crossing and the industrial area of Laverton North. The district falls largely within the boundaries of the federal division of Gellibrand, with some of the western-most parts falling within the boundaries of Lalor. The electoral office for the district of Altona may be found at Central Square Shopping Centre in Altona Meadows.

Demographics

Melbourne's western suburbs are generally considered to be working class with high unemployment but in the district of Altona at least this is untrue. The average weekly income in the district is A$907 compared with a Victorian average of A$812. The district does however have a higher than average immigrant population with 31% of the district being born outside Australia. The district also has a very low number of diplomas with only 12.7% of the district holding one compared to 20.2% of the rest of Victoria.

History

The seat was created in an electoral redistribution for the 1992 election as a safe seat for the Labor Party. It was won by Carole Marple, associated with Labor's left faction, but she was defeated for preselection by the right's Lynne Kosky for the 1996 election. Kosky was easily re-elected in following elections, and Altona is currently one of the safest seats in Victoria for the Labor Party. On 18 January 2010 Kosky announced her resignation as the Minister for Public Transport and as the Member for Altona, triggering a by-election that was held on Saturday 13 February.

Members for Altona

Member		Party	Term
	Carole Marple	Labor	1992–1996
	Lynne Kosky	Labor	1996–2010
	Jill Hennessy	Labor	2010–present

Election results

See also: Electoral results for the district of Altona

Victorian state election, 2010: Altona
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Jill Hennessy	22,954	51.0	-9.6
	Liberal	Mark Rose	14,944	33.2	+9.3
	Greens	David Strangward	4,516	10.0	+1.6
	Family First	Elizabeth Mumby	1,582	3.5	-3.6
	Independent	Brijender Nain	991	2.2	+2.2
Total formal votes			44,987	93.1
Informal votes			2,529	6.9
Turnout			47,516	92.62
Two-candidate preferred result
	Labor	Jill Hennessy	27,886	62.0	-8.2
	Liberal	Mark Rose	17,117	38.0	+8.2
	Labor hold		Swing	-8.2

See also

• Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
• List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

External links

• Electorate profile: Altona District, Victorian Electoral Commission