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Electoral district of South Barwon
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
South Barwon is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. Located in a mixed urban and rural area south of the Barwon River, it covers an area of 621km², including the Geelong suburbs of Belmont and Grovedale, Waurn Ponds and part of Highton, the coastal centres of Torquay and Barwon Heads, and the rural towns of Barrabool, Bellbrae, Connewarre, Gnarwarre, Modewarre, Moriac and Mount Moriac. The electorate had a population of 52,241 as of the 2001 census.
South Barwon was created in 1976 as a predominantly rural seat which was considered safe for the conservative Liberal Party of Australia. It was won by Liberal Aurel Smith, formerly the member for Bellarine, upon its inception, and retained for the party by Harley Dickinson upon Smith's retirement in 1982. Dickinson held the seat until 1992, when he quit the party and attempted to retain the seat as an independent, but lost to endorsed Liberal candidate and former television newsreader Alister Paterson. The seat underwent significant demographic change during Paterson's tenure, with major population growth in the traditionally Labor-voting areas of Torquay, Barwon Heads and southern Geelong, causing the seat to become progressively less safe for the Liberal Party. These changes came to a head at the 2002 election, when Labor nominated popular former Geelong mayor Michael Crutchfield as its candidate, and amidst a statewide landslide victory, succeeded in taking South Barwon for the first time in its history. Crutchfield has had a mixed record as local member, being locally blamed for controversial decisions over the siting of the Marshall railway station and Geelong road bypass. The seat is thus being targeted by the Liberals at the forthcoming 2006 election, and the party has preselected local funeral director Michael King as their candidate.
| Member | Party affiliation | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Aurel Smith | Liberal Party of Australia | 1976-1982 |
| Harley Dickinson | Liberal Party of Australia/Independent | 1982-1992 |
| Alister Paterson | Liberal Party of Australia | 1992-2002 |
| Michael Crutchfield | Australian Labor Party | 2002-present |
- District profile from the Victorian Electoral Commission
- District map from the Victorian Electoral Commission (PDF)
