State Victoria Demographic Rural | Created 1889 Electors 43,856 (2015) Founded 1889 Elector 43,856 (2015) | |
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Area 12,561 km (4,849.8 sq mi) Party Liberal Party of Australia | ||
The Electoral district of Polwarth is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is located in south-west rural Victoria, west of Geelong, and covers the Colac and Corangamite local government areas (LGA), parts of the Moyne, Golden Plains and Surf Coast LGAs, and slivers of the Ararat and Greater Geelong LGAs, running along the Great Ocean Road taking in Anglesea, Cape Otway, Peterborough, Aireys Inlet, Lorne, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, covering the inland towns of Winchelsea, Colac, Camperdown and Terang along the Princes Highway, and Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore and Mortlake on the Hamilton Highway, and finally, includes the Otway Ranges and Lake Corangamite.
The seat has existed since 1889 and has always been held by conservative parties. The Liberal Party of Australia has held the seat continuously since 1970, although the Nationals have provided strong challenges on occasions, such as at the 1999 election when election night figures suggested retired AFL Footballer Paul Couch would win the seat. [1] Although ultimately Couch failed to finish ahead of the Labor Party candidate and the Liberals Terry Mulder won after receiving preferences from Couch. [2]
The 2014 Victorian election saw the Liberal's Terry Mulder retain his seat, with a 3.2% swing to Labor. Mulder resigned from parliament on 3 September 2015. The 2015 Polwarth by-election occurred on 31 October, electing Richard Riordan as the new member.