Electoral district of Polwarth

Polwarth Victoria—Legislative Assembly
State or territory:	Victoria
Created:	1889
MP:	Terry Mulder
Party:	Liberal Party of Australia
Electors:	42,079 (2010)
Area:	11,008 km² (4,250 sq mi)
Demographic:	Rural

The Electoral district of Polwarth is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers much of the rural territory west of Geelong and includes the towns of Anglesea, Lorne, Lismore, Colac, Camperdown, Terang and Mortlake.

The seat has existed since 1889 and has always been held by conservative parties. The Liberal Party of Australia has held the seat continuously since 1970, although the Nationals have provided strong challenges on occasions, such as at the 1999 election when election night figures suggested retired AFL Footballer Paul Couch would win the seat. [1] Although ultimately Couch failed to finish ahead of the Labor Party candidate and the Liberals Terry Mulder won after receiving preferences from Couch. [2]

At the 2002 election, Mulder retained the seat with a margin of 9.53%.

Members for Polwarth

Member		Party	Term
	Charles Forrest	Unaligned	1889–1894
	Thomas Baker	Unaligned	1894–1897
	Charles Forrest	Unaligned	1897–1911
	John Johnstone	Commonwealth Liberal	1911–1917
	James McDonald	Nationalist	1917–1929
		Economy	1929–1931
		United Australia	1931–1933
	Allan McDonald	United Australia	1933–1940
	Edward Guye	Country	1940–1950
		Liberal Country	1950–1958
	Thomas Darcy	Liberal Country	1958–1959
		Liberal	1959–1970
	Cec Burgin	Liberal	1970–1985
	Ian Smith	Liberal	1985–1999
	Terry Mulder	Liberal	1999–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Polwarth

Victorian state election, 2010: Polwarth
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Terry Mulder	21,245	55.31	+1.79
	Labor	Brian Crook	10,432	27.16	-1.76
	Greens	Natalie Atherden	3,235	8.42	-1.19
	Country Alliance	Garry Kerr	1,502	3.91	+3.91
	Family First	John Modra	1,211	3.15	-1.11
	Independent	Grant Beale	784	2.04	+2.04
Total formal votes			38,409	96.15	-0.34
Informal votes			1,539	3.85	+0.34
Turnout			39,948	94.94	+1.00
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal	Terry Mulder	24,351	63.29	+2.60
	Labor	Brian Crook	14,127	36.71	-2.60
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.60

See also

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

External links

• Electorate profile: Polwarth District, Victorian Electoral Commission