Created 1901 Electors 110,793 (2016) Founded 1901 Elector 110,793 | MP Catherine King Demographic Provincial Member of parliament Catherine King Party Australian Labor Party | |
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Namesake Ballaarat (from a Wathaurong Aboriginal word: balla arat, thought to mean "resting place".) Area 4,652 km (1,796.1 sq mi) | ||
The Division of Ballarat (spelt Ballaarat from 1901 until the 1977 election) is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It was named for the provincial city of the same name by Scottish squatter Archibald Yuille, who established the first settlement − his sheep run called Ballaarat − in 1837, with the name derived from a local Wathaurong Aboriginal word for the area, balla arat, thought to mean "resting place". The division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election.
The division currently takes in the regional City of Ballarat and the smaller towns of Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Blackwood, Buninyong, Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford, Myrniong and Trentham and part of Burrumbeet.
The current Member for Ballarat, since the 2001 federal election, is Catherine King, a member of the Australian Labor Party.
History
At various times in its existence the division has included other towns such as Ararat, Maryborough, and Stawell.
Ballarat is a marginal seat, changing hands at intervals between the Labor Party and the non-Labor parties. Its most prominent member has been Alfred Deakin, who was Prime Minister of Australia three times. Liberal senator Michael Ronaldson was the grandson of Archibald Fisken, a former Member for Ballarat.
Ballarat also holds the distinction of seeing the closest seat result in Australian history. Nationalist Edwin Kerby unseated Labor incumbent Charles McGrath by a single vote in 1919. However, McGrath alleged irregularities, and the result was thrown out in 1920, forcing a by-election that was won by McGrath.