Division of La Trobe

La Trobe Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of La Trobe in Victoria, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1949
MP	Jason Wood
Party	Liberal
Namesake	Charles La Trobe
Electors	105,731 (2016)
Area	558 km2 (215.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer Metropolitan

The Division of La Trobe is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the outer eastern/south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was originally located closer to the city, but redistributions moved it further south-east. It originally included the suburbs of Croydon, Dandenong, Ferntree Gully and Ringwood. As of 2005, the division is roughly Y-shaped, centred on the Cardinia Reservoir. It includes the suburbs of Boronia, Belgrave and Ferntree Gully in the north-west, the suburbs of Berwick, Beaconsfield and Officer in the south, and the towns of Gembrook, Emerald and Cockatoo.

The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 election. It was named after Charles La Trobe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Victoria. The division is currently a marginal Liberal seat. The first person to hold the seat was Richard Casey, Baron Casey, later the sixteenth Governor-General of Australia and the last of three Australian politicians to be elevated to the British House of Lords. The Division of Casey, which borders this Division to the north, is named after him. In 1961, the division was the subject of a book, Parties and People: A Survey Based on the La Trobe Electorate, by Creighton Burns.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Richard Casey	Liberal	1949–1960
	John Jess	Liberal	1960–1972
	Tony Lamb	Labor	1972–1975
	Marshall Baillieu	Liberal	1975–1980
	Peter Milton	Labor	1980–1990
	Bob Charles	Liberal	1990–2004
	Jason Wood	Liberal	2004–2010
	Laura Smyth	Labor	2010–2013
	Jason Wood	Liberal	2013–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of La Trobe

Australian federal election, 2016: La Trobe

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jason Wood	39,108	42.23	−3.82
	Labor	Simon Curtis	29,052	31.37	−0.69
	Greens	Tom Cummings	9,773	10.55	+0.53
	Justice	Julieanne Doidge	3,922	4.24	+4.24
	Animal Justice	Leah Folloni	2,677	2.89	+2.89
	Family First	Jeffrey Bartram	2,273	2.45	+0.56
	Sex Party	Martin Leahy	2,103	2.27	−0.52
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	David Fent	1,321	1.43	+1.43
	Liberal Democrats	Leslie Hughes	1,188	1.28	+1.28
	Rise Up Australia	Margaret Quinn	1,180	1.27	+0.47
Total formal votes			92,597	94.44	−1.17
Informal votes			5,454	5.56	+1.17
Turnout			98,051	92.74	−2.10
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Jason Wood	47,649	51.46	−2.55
	Labor	Simon Curtis	44,948	48.54	+2.55
	Liberal hold		Swing	−2.55

External links

• Division of La Trobe - Australian Electoral Commission