|
|
|
|
| Adam Carr's Election Archive
|
Australian federal election, 2019
Division of Indi, Victoria
Northern Victoria: Alexandra, Benalla, Mansfield, Wangaratta, Wodonga
State seats: All of
Benambra, parts of
Eildon,
Euroa and
Ovens Valley
Local government areas: All of Alpine, Benalla, Indigo, Mansfield, Murrindindi, Towong, Wangaratta and
Wodonga, parts of Strathbogie
Enrolment at close of rolls: 121,614
1999 republic referendum: No 63.1
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 63.1
Sitting member: Cathy McGowan AO (Independent):
Elected 2013, 2016. Retiring 2019
2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 9.2%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 9.9%
2013 Independent majority over Liberal: 0.3%
2016 Independent majority over Liberal: 4.5%
2019 notional Independent majority over Liberal: 4.1%
Status: Marginal Independent versus Liberal
Status: Fairly safe Liberal versus Labor
2016 results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
1. Dr Helen Robinson
Australian Greens |
2. Jason Whalley
Derryn Hinch's Justice Party |
3. Dr Helen Haines
Independent |
4. Steve Martin
Liberal Party |
5. Mark Byatt
The Nationals |
 |
 |
6. Shane Wheatland
United Australia Party |
7. Eric Kerr
Australian Labor Party |
Candidate websites:
Mark Byatt
Dr Helen Haines
Eric Kerr
Steve Martin
Dr Helen Robinson
Division of Indi
Indi has existed since Federation, and has always occupied the north-eastern corner of Victoria. Like all rural seats,
it has a lower than average level of median family income and a very low proportion of non English speaking households. Its
proportion of people in professional and managerial occupations is higher than in most rural seats, while it also has a
high proportion engaged in agriculture.
Labor has not won Indi since 1929, and although there are pockets of Labor support, the main
centres, Wangaratta, Wodonga and Benalla, usually vote heavily Liberal. The National Party used to win the seat on
occasions, and was a threat until the 1980s, but since then it has faded away in this region.
Sophie Panopoulos (now Sophie Mirabella) won Indi for the Liberals in 2001. Panopoulos, a Melbourne lawyer and the
daughter of Greek immigrants, was an outsider when she ran for Liberal selection, and although she held Indi easily
at four elections, she never really succeeded in gaining acceptance in the area, a problem compounded by her aggressive
political style and regular brushes with controversy. She was on the opposition frontbench from 2007 onwards, and would
have been a Cabinet minister in the Abbott Government.
Instead in 2013 she was unexpectedly defeated by Cathy McGowan,
an independent candidate said to be backed by the Nationals. In 2016 Mirabella failed in a bid to regain the seat.
Cathy McGowan, independent MP for Indi since 2013, was a teacher and then a staffer for an earlier Liberal MP for Indi,
Ewen Cameron. Later she worked for the state Department of Agriculture and then ran her own rural affairs consultancy.
She was made an AO in 2004.
In January 2019 McGowan announced that she would not recontest the seat. Her Voices For Indi
group has chosen Dr Helen Haines to succeed her as an independent candidate. The Liberal candidate is
Wodonga engineer Steve Martin. Labor's candidate is Eric Kerr. The Nationals will also contest the seat - there was
speculation that Nationals Deputy Leader Senator Bridget McKenzie would run, but in February former Wodonga Mayor
Mark Byatt was chosen. The Greens candidate is Dr Helen Robinson, a veterinarian.
Demographics:
Median weekly household income: $1,126 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 21.0% (Australia 15.8%)
Australian born: 81.9% (Australia 66.7%)
Non-English-speaking households: 6.2% (Australia 22.2%)
Catholics 23.0% (Australia 22.6%)
No religion 32.4% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 13.9% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 31.5% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 27.7% (Australia 22.9%)
Employed in agriculture: 10.0% (Australia 3.3%)
Paying a mortgage: 33.1% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 24.8% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 26.3% (Australia 32.8%)
Members:
Hon Isaac Isaacs (Prot) 1901-06
Joseph Brown (FT, Lib) 1906-10
Parker Moloney (ALP) 1910-13
Cornelius Ahern (Lib) 1913-14
Parker Moloney (ALP) 1914-17
John Leckie (Nat) 1917-19
Robert Cook (VFU, CP) 1919-28
Paul Jones (ALP) 1928-31
William Hutchinson (UAP) 1931-37
Hon John McEwen (CP) 1937-49
William Bostock (Lib) 1949-58
Hon Mac Holten (CP, NCP) 1958-77
Ewen Cameron (Lib) 1977-93
Hon Lou Lieberman (Lib) 1993-2001
Sophie Mirabella (Lib) 2001-13
Cathy McGowan (Ind) 2013-19
Boundaries following 2018 redistribution:
Back to main page
|
|