Division of Melbourne Ports

Melbourne Ports Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Melbourne Ports (green) in Victoria
Created	1901
MP	Michael Danby
Party	Labor
Namesake	Port Melbourne
Electors	93,518 (2013)
Area	40 km2 (15.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner Metropolitan

The Division of Melbourne Ports is an Australian federal electoral division in the inner south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is located to the south of Melbourne's central business district and covers an area of approximately 40 km² around the north and north-eastern shores of Port Phillip Bay.

The electorate was created at the time of Australian Federation in 1901 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the fact that at the time of its creation it was centred on Port Melbourne and Williamstown, both major ports.

The electorate, formerly working class, is much more demographically diverse on its current boundaries, with rapidly accelerating inner-city gentrification and high-density housing developments in recent years. It still includes Port Melbourne, but now also includes a number of middle and upper middle class suburbs such as Albert Park, Balaclava, Caulfield, Elwood, Middle Park, Ripponlea, South Melbourne and St Kilda. It is the home of one of Australia's larger atheist communities and according to 2006 census, this electorate has 23.2% No Religion, 18.8% Catholic, 12.7% Jewish, 10.8% Anglican, 11.7% Other Christian, 5.9% Other Religions, and 16.9% not stated. It also has a large gay and lesbian community.

Melbourne Ports has been held by the Australian Labor Party since 1906. Originally, it was anchored in the industrial suburbs in the west of the electorate, which are part of Labor's heartland in west Melbourne. On those boundaries, for decades it was one of the safest Labor seats in the country. Since its extension eastwards to Caulfield and other Liberal-voting areas in the 1990 redistribution, it has become much less secure for Labor. Continuing the gradual downwards trend in the Labor primary vote, in the 2013 election, Labor was returned with a primary vote of less than 32 percent.

It has been held by only five men since 1906, most notably Jack Holloway, a minister in the Curtin government, Frank Crean, Treasurer in the Whitlam government, and Clyde Holding, a minister in the Hawke government.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Samuel Mauger	Protectionist	1901–1906
	James Mathews	Labor	1906–1931
	Jack Holloway	Labor	1931–1951
	Frank Crean	Labor	1951–1977
	Clyde Holding	Labor	1977–1998
	Michael Danby	Labor	1998–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Melbourne Ports

Australian federal election, 2013: Melbourne Ports

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Kevin Ekendahl	33,278	41.05	+3.66
	Labor	Michael Danby	25,676	31.67	−6.56
	Greens	Ann Birrell	16,353	20.17	−0.82
	Sex Party	Melissa Star	3,089	3.81	+1.59
	Palmer United	Toby Stodart	1,122	1.38	+1.38
	Democratic Labour	Vince Stefano	540	0.67	+0.67
	Family First	Robert Keenan	490	0.60	−0.14
	Stable Population	Steven Armstrong	324	0.40	+0.40
	Rise Up Australia	Margaret Quinn	201	0.25	+0.25
Total formal votes			81,073	96.18	−0.59
Informal votes			3,223	3.82	+0.59
Turnout			84,296	90.14	+0.61
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Michael Danby	43,419	53.56	−4.33
	Liberal	Kevin Ekendahl	37,654	46.44	+4.33
	Labor hold		Swing	−4.33

External links

• Division of Melbourne Ports - Australian Electoral Commission