Division of Gellibrand


The Division of Gellibrand is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division was created in 1949 and is named after Joseph Gellibrand, a pioneer settler of the Melbourne area. It is located in the industrial inner western suburbs of Melbourne and includes Altona, Altona North, Altona Meadows, Kingsville, Laverton, Newport, Seabrook, Seaholme, Seddon, South Kingsville, Spotswood, Williamstown, Williamstown North and Yarraville; and parts of Brooklyn, Footscray, Laverton North, Point Cook, West Footscray and Williams Landing.

History

The Division has been held by the Australian Labor Party for its entire existence; it is located in Labor's traditional heartland of western Melbourne, and is characterised by a very diverse, multicultural population. Labor has never tallied less than 60 percent of the two-party vote, and until 2010 always won an outright majority on first preferences alone.
Its most prominent members have been Ralph Willis, a Cabinet minister in the Hawke and Keating Governments, and Nicola Roxon, a Cabinet minister in the Rudd Government and the Gillard Government and first female Attorney-General.
In recent years there has been considerable gentrification in the inner-city suburbs such as Footscray, Williamstown and Yarraville, and a consequent rise in the progressive Greens vote, which rose to 37 percent in Footscray in the 2013 election. In the west, a solid patch of working-class suburbia remain strongly Labor-leaning.
For several years, Gellibrand was Labor's safest seat in the Federal Parliament. It is currently Labor's fourth-safest seat, with an 18.2 percent swing needed for the Liberals to win it. The current member for Gellibrand since the 2013 election is Labor's Tim Watts.

Members

Election results