- Division of Wakefield
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Wakefield
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Wakefield (green) in South AustraliaCreated: 1903 MP: Nick Champion Party: Labor Namesake: Edward Gibbon Wakefield Area: 6,155 km² (2,376 sq mi) Demographic: Rural The Division of Wakefield is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of South Australia. It is located north of Adelaide, incorporating the outer northern suburbs of Salisbury and Elizabeth, and extending north as far as Clare. It covers the east coast of the Gulf St Vincent north of Adelaide, all the way to Port Wakefield. It also includes the towns of Balaklava, Tarlee, Kapunda and Gawler.
The Division was named after Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who promoted colonisation as a tool for social engineering, plans which formed the basis for settlements in South Australia, Western Australia, New Zealand and Canada. It was proclaimed at the redistribution of 2 October 1903, when South Australia was first broken up into Divisions. It was first contested at the 1903 Federal election. It was first held by Hon Sir Frederick Holder, the first Speaker of the House, who was also twice the Premier of South Australia. It has previously been held by Neil Andrew, a former Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives.
Before the redistribution for the 2004 election, Wakefield was predominantly rural with a large Liberal margin, including the Barossa Valley area, but not the Salisbury, Elizabeth and Smithfield areas. The northern suburbs were added to Wakefield when the Division of Bonython was abolished by the redistribution. As a result, the hybrid urban-rural seat became notionally Labor, prompting Andrew to retire. The Liberals held it in 2004, but in 2007 Nick Champion became only the third Labor member ever to win it. In 2010, he technically made it a safe Labor seat by winning 62 percent of the two-party vote.
Members
Member Party Term Frederick Holder Independent 1903–1909 Richard Foster Commonwealth Liberal 1909–1916 Nationalist 1916–1922 Liberal Union 1922–1925 Nationalist 1925–1928 Maurice Collins Country 1928–1929 Charles Hawker Nationalist 1929–1931 United Australia 1931–1938 Sydney McHugh Labor 1938–1940 Jack Duncan-Hughes United Australia 1940–1943 Albert Smith Labor 1943–1946 Philip McBride Liberal 1946–1958 Bert Kelly Liberal 1958–1977 Geoffrey Giles Liberal 1977–1983 Neil Andrew Liberal 1983–2004 David Fawcett Liberal 2004–2007 Nick Champion Labor 2007–present Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of WakefieldAustralian federal election, 2010: Wakefield Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labor Nick Champion 43,299 49.20 +0.55 Liberal David Strauss 27,679 31.45 -7.24 Greens Jane Alcorn 9,948 11.30 +7.17 Family First Paul Coombe 5,958 6.77 +1.61 Democrats Darren Hassan 1,129 1.28 +0.11 Total formal votes 88,013 93.78 -1.56 Informal votes 5,837 6.22 +1.56 Turnout 93,850 93.65 -1.48 Two-candidate preferred result Labor Nick Champion 54,528 61.95 +5.36 Liberal David Strauss 33,485 38.05 -5.36 Labor hold Swing +5.36 References
Electoral Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in South Australia Adelaide · Barker · Boothby · Grey · Hindmarsh · Kingston · Makin · Mayo · Port Adelaide · Sturt · Wakefield
Abolished: Angas (1903-34) · Angas (1949-77) · Bonython · Hawker · South Australia
Divisions in: New South Wales · Victoria · Queensland · Western Australia · South Australia · Tasmania · Australian Capital and Northern Territories Categories:- Electoral divisions of Australia
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