| Moreton |
Division of Murray | New England |
 Hon Dr Sharman Stone (Lib) Her electorate website |  |
Location: Northern Vic: Echuca, Kyabram, Shepparton, Yarrawonga Division named for: The Murray River, named in 1830 after Sir George Murray, Colonial Secretary Median weekly family income: $808 (114th highest) Persons born in non English speaking countries: 4.9% (106th highest) Persons in professional occupations: 30.5% (36th highest) Persons engaged in agriculture: 18.9% (9th highest) Persons aged 65 and over: 14.4% (43rd highest) Couple families with dependent children: 38.6% (68th highest) Dwellings being purchased: 26.2% (72nd highest) Sitting member: Hon Dr Sharman Stone (Liberal), elected 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007 Born: 23 April 1951, Pyramid Hill, Victoria. Career: Farmer, manager International Development University of Melbourne. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage 1998-2004, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration 2004-06, Minister for Workforce Participation 2006-07. Member, Opposition Shadow Ministry from 2007. Shadow Minister for the Environment, Heritage, the Arts and Indigenous Affairs 2007-08. Shadow Minister for Immigration and Citizenship from 22 September 2008 1996 two-candidate majority: Liberal over National 03.7 1998 two-party majority: Liberal 22.1 2001 two-party majority: Liberal 23.9 Effect of 2004 redistribution: 02.0 shift to Labor 2004 two-party majority: Liberal 24.1 2007 two-party majority: Liberal 18.3 
2004 enrolment: 87,631 2007 enrolment: 88,890 (+01.4%) Murray has existed since 1949, and has always occupied the central part of the Murray Valley, based on Shepparton. This is one of the most heavily agricultural parts of Australia, and also one of the most politically conservative. Murray has always been an ulra-safe seat for the non-Labor parties. Like most reural seats, it has a low level of median family income, and a low proportion of people born in non English speaking countries. The Murray Valley was one of the birthplaces of the Country Party, and the old seat of Echuca, which covered much the same territory, first elected a Country Party member in 1919. The loss of Murray to the Liberals in 1996 was thus a shock, and a symbol of the decline of the Nationals in Victoria. The first member for Murray was Sir John McEwen, who was briefly Prime Minister in 1967-68 (McEwen had previously been member for Echuca and Indi since 1934). Dr Sharman Stone won the seat for the Liberals in 1996. Stone, who has a doctorate in sociology, was a junior minister in the last term of the Howard government and is now on the Opposition frontbench. Although Labor gained a healthy swing of 5.8% in 2007, the Liberals still won every booth, most of them with more than 60% of the two-party vote. The Liberals polled 92% of two-party vote at Tennyson, and more than 80% at 16 other boohs. Labor's best result was 44% at Wedderburn. | |  Two-party vote by booth, 2007
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