Created 1955 Namesake Sir Langdon Bonython Date dissolved 2004 | Abolished 2004 Founded 1955 | |
The Division of Bonython was an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia. The division was created in 1955 and abolished in 2004. It was named for Sir Langdon Bonython, philanthropist, publisher, and one of the original federal MPs from South Australia.
It was created as a comfortably safe Labor seat in Adelaide's northern suburbs. It was carved mostly from the Labor-leaning portions of neighbouring Sturt, and was thus a natural choice for Sturt's Labor incumbent, Norman Makin, to transfer in 1955. For most of its existence, it was Labor's second safest seat in South Australia, behind Port Adelaide. The Liberals only came close to winning it once, in 1966 when they managed to hold Labor to only 52 percent of the two-party vote.
Besides Makin, its most notable member was Neal Blewett, a minister in the Hawke and Keating Governments.
At the time of its abolition it was based on the suburbs of Elizabeth and Salisbury. For a time it also included Gawler, and stretched as far south as Norwood.
Apart from the south-west area between Port Wakefield Road and Main North Road which was shifted to Port Adelaide, the majority of abolished Bonython was shifted to the Division of Wakefield in the 2004 redistribution, making it marginal as a result.