Created 1955 Electors 96,716 (2016) Founded 1955 Member of parliament Julian Hill Elector 96,716 | MP Julian Hill Demographic Outer Metropolitan Area 73 km² | |
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The Division of Bruce is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The division was created in 1955 and is named for Stanley Bruce, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1923 to 1929. Unusually, the division was named after a living person as Bruce did not die until 1967.
The division is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It covers an area of approximately 73 square kilometres (28 sq mi) including the suburbs of Dandenong North, Glen Waverley, Mulgrave, Noble Park North, Wheelers Hill, and parts of Clayton, Dandenong, Noble Park, Notting Hill and Springvale.
The current Member for Bruce, since the 2016 federal election, is Julian Hill, who is a member of the Australian Labor Party.
History
Until 1996, the division was based on Glen Waverley and Mount Waverley, and was a fairly safe seat for the Liberal Party, but since then its boundaries have been extended southwards, making it a marginal Labor Party seat.
Its most prominent member was Sir Billy Snedden, Liberal Party leader from 1972 to 1975 and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 1976 to 1983. At the 2011 Census, the division had the nation's highest proportion of residents born overseas (50.8%) and the third highest proportion born in a non-English speaking country (45.4%). It also has the sixth highest proportion speaking a language other than English at home (51.6%), the highest for any Victorian electorate.