State Victoria MP Brad Battin Founded 2002 Member of parliament Brad Battin | Created 2002 Electors 42,239 (2014) Area 452 km² Elector 42,239 | |
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Demographic Mixed rural and urban fringe Party Liberal Party of Australia | ||
The Electoral district of Gembrook is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is situated on the edge of metropolitan Melbourne. Included within its boundaries are Emerald, Cockatoo, Gembrook, Beaconsfield, and sizeable parts of Berwick and Pakenham. The district formerly extended north to Yarra Valley communities such as Warburton and Launching Place prior to the seat's redistribution at the 2014 election.
The electorate was created in 2002, replacing the abolished electorate of Pakenham, which had its namesake moved into Bass. It was widely considered to be a safe Liberal seat, and was to be contested by Shadow Treasurer Robert Dean, formerly the member for abolished Berwick. However, in a heavily publicised gaffe, it was discovered during the campaign that Dean was ineligible to stand as a candidate because he had not updated his enrolment after moving to his new electorate, and was therefore no longer a registered voter. He was quickly replaced with Neil Lucas, the MLC for the corresponding upper house seat of Eumemmerring Province. In an upset result widely attributed to the Dean affair, Lucas was defeated by Labor candidate Tammy Lobato. Lobato was narrowly re-elected at the 2006 election, but was defeated at the 2010 election by Brad Battin.