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| Australian federal election, 2016
Division of Higgins, Victoria
Inner Melbourne: Carnegie, Malvern, Prahran, Toorak
Sitting member: Hon Kelly O’Dwyer (Liberal), elected 2009
Enrolment at close of rolls: 104,615
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 9.9%
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Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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1. Rebecca O'Brien
Australian Equality Party |
2. Jessica Tregear
Derryn Hinch Justice Party |
3. Hon Kelly O’Dwyer
Liberal Party |
4. Jason Ball
Australian Greens |
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5. Robert Kennedy
Liberal Democratic Party |
6. Carl Katter
Australian Labor Party |
7. Nancy Bassett
Nick Xenophon Team |
8. Eleonora Gullone
Animal Justice Party |
2013 results
Statistics and history
Higgins was created in 1949, based in Melbourne's wealthy inner south -eastern suburbs, initially Malvern and Caulfield, and expanding over
successive redistributions to take in Toorak and South Yarra to the west and Ashburton to the east, while losing Caulfield in 1990. It has one
of the highest median income levels, one of the highest rates of home ownership, and one of the highest proportions of people in professional
occupations of any electorate. Not surprisingly, it has always been a safe seat for the Liberal Party, although somewhat less so on its current
boundaries than in the past: there are pockets of Labor strength in Alamein, Carnegie, Hughesdale and Prahran.
Higgins was won in 1949 for the Liberals by Harold Holt, who had been member for Fawkner since 1935. He was Prime Minister from 1966 until his
death in 1967. The 1968 by-election was won by his successor as PM, John Gorton, who was transferring from the Senate. Higgins is thus the only
seat to have been held by two Prime Ministers. Gorton retired in 1975 and was succeeded by Roger Shipton, a backbencher who was dumped in 1990
in favour of the ambitious young lawyer Peter Costello, who became Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party in 1994 and was Treasurer throughout the
Howard Government. He was widely expected to succeed Howard as Liberal Leader, but after the 2007 defeat he declined to stand and resigned his
seat in 2009.
Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal MP for Higgins since the 2009 by-election that followed Costello's resignation, was a lawyer, banker and senior adviser
to Costello before becoming his successor. She became a parliamentary secretary in 2014 and a minister in 2015. She is now Assistant Treasurer.
The Labor candidate will be Carl Katter, who is the half-brother of Nationals-turned-independent federal MP Bob Katter Jr. Both Katter and the
Greens candidate, Jason Ball, are openly gay, in a seat with a substantial gay population. The Greens won the state seat of Prahran at the 2014
Victorian state election, and there is speculation that they could win Higgins. To do this they would have to come second ahead of Labor and then
gain the great majority of Labor preferences. In 2013, O'Dwyer polled 54%, Labor 24% and the Greens 17%. This would give the Liberals a notional
majority over the Greens of approximately 10%.
These maps are the property of Adam Carr and may not be reproduced without his permission.
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Prospective pendulum, showing all candidates
State and territory maps, showing new boundaries
The thirty seats that will decide the election
Other seats of interest
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