Division of Braddon

This article is about the federal electorate. For the state electorate, see Division of Braddon (state).

Braddon Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Braddon in Tasmania, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created	1955
MP	Gavin Pearce
Party	Liberal
Namesake	Sir Edward Braddon
Electors	79,194 (2019)
Area	21,369 km2 (8,250.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Braddon is an Australian electoral division in the state of Tasmania. The current MP is Gavin Pearce of the Liberal Party, who was elected at the 2019 federal election.

Braddon is a rural electorate covering approximately 21,369 square kilometres (8,251 sq mi) in the north-west and west of Tasmania, including King Island. The cities of Burnie and Devonport are major population centres in the division. Other towns include Currie, Latrobe, Penguin, Queenstown, Rosebery, Smithton, Somerset, Stanley, Strahan, Ulverstone, Waratah, Wynyard and Zeehan.

History

Sir Edward Braddon, the division's namesake

The division was created at the Tasmanian redistribution on 30 August 1955, essentially as a reconfigured version of the Division of Darwin. It is named for Sir Edward Braddon, a Premier of Tasmania and one of Tasmania's five original federal members of parliament.

Following the election of the Whitlam government and the period following the Franklin Dam controversy, Braddon became a relatively safe seat for the Liberal Party. In more recent years, the division has usually been a marginal seat, changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party. Its most prominent member was Ray Groom. Groom was later to represent Denison in the Tasmanian Parliament 1986–2001 and served as Tasmanian Premier 1992–96.

Members

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Aubrey Luck (1900–1999)	Liberal	10 December 1955 – 22 November 1958	Previously held the Division of Darwin. Lost seat
		Ron Davies (1919–1980)	Labor	22 November 1958 – 13 December 1975	Lost seat
		Ray Groom (1944–)	Liberal	13 December 1975 – 26 October 1984	Served as minister under Fraser. Retired. Later elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison in 1986
		Chris Miles (1947–)	Liberal	1 December 1984 – 3 October 1998	Lost seat
		Sid Sidebottom (1951–)	Labor	3 October 1998 – 9 October 2004	Lost seat
		Mark Baker (1958–)	Liberal	9 October 2004 – 24 November 2007	Lost seat
		Sid Sidebottom (1951–)	Labor	24 November 2007 – 7 September 2013	Lost seat
		Brett Whiteley (1960–)	Liberal	7 September 2013 – 2 July 2016	Lost seat
		Justine Keay (1975–)	Labor	2 July 2016 – 18 May 2019	Lost seat
		Gavin Pearce (1967–)	Liberal	18 May 2019 – present	Incumbent

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Braddon

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Tasmania § Braddon.[edit]

2019 Australian federal election: Braddon

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gavin Pearce	26,513	37.89	−4.14
	Labor	Justine Keay	22,434	32.06	−7.51
	Independent	Craig Brakey	7,619	10.89	+10.89
	One Nation	Graham Gallaher	3,879	5.54	+5.54
	Greens	Phill Parsons	3,384	4.84	−1.99
	United Australia	Karen Spaulding	2,575	3.68	+3.68
	National	Sally Milbourne	1,654	2.36	+2.36
	Independent	Brett Smith	1,203	1.72	+1.72
	Conservative National	Shane Allan	712	1.02	+1.02
Total formal votes			69,973	92.92	−1.96
Informal votes			5,330	7.08	+1.96
Turnout			75,303	95.09	+1.44
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Gavin Pearce	37,151	53.09	+4.82
	Labor	Justine Keay	32,822	46.91	−4.82
	Liberal gain from Labor		Swing	+4.82

External links

• Division Braddon – Australian Electoral Commission