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| Adam Carr's Election Archive
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Australian federal election, 2022
Division of Higgins, Victoria
Named for: Hon Henry Bournes Higgins (1851-1929), Vic MP 1894-1900,
federal MP 1901-06, judge
Inner Melbourne: Ashburton, Carnegie, Malvern, Prahran, Toorak
State seats: All of
Malvern, parts of
Burwood,
Hawthorn,
Oakleigh and
Prahran
Local government areas: All of
Stonnington, parts of
Boroondara and
Glen Eira
Borders with:
Chisholm,
Goldstein,
Hotham,
Kooyong,
Macnamara and
Melbourne
Enrolment at 2019 election: 111,035
Enrolment at 2022 election: 107,782 (-02.9)
1999 republic referendum: Yes 63.7
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 78.3
Sitting member: Dr Katie Allen (Liberal):
Elected 2019
2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 7.0%
2009 by-election Liberal majority over Greens: 10.2%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 6.8%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 9.9%
2016 Liberal majority over Greens: 8.0%
2019 Liberal majority over Labor: 3.9%
2022 notional Liberal majority over Labor: 3.7%
Liberal two-party vote 1983-2019
Status: Very marginal Liberal
Best Liberal booths, two-party vote: Toorak (72.0), Malvern Lower (71.6), Toorak West (69.8),
Malvern PPVC (65.7), Darling (61.5)
Best Labor booths, two-party vote: Carnegie (65.2), Fawkner Park (60.1), Glenhuntly East (59.2), Murrumbeena (58.3),
Carnegie East (55.7)
2019 results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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1. Matthew Ford
Liberal Democrats |
2. Ingram Spencer
United Australia Party |
3. Alicia Walker
Animal Justice Party |
4. Dr Katie Allen
Liberal Party |
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5. Andrew Johnson
Reason Party |
6. Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah
Australian Labor Party |
7. Suzie Menoudakis
Federation Party |
8. Sonya Semmens
Australian Greens |
Candidate websites:
Dr Katie Allen
Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah
Matthew Ford
Andrew Johnson
Sonya Semmens
Ingram Spencer
Alice Walker
Division of Higgins
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 much less so on its current boundaries than in the past:
there are pockets of Labor strength in Alamein, Carnegie and Prahran. The 2021 redistribution has removed Labor-voting
Hughesdale and added Labor-Greens voting Windsor, making little overall difference.
At the 2016 election the Greens captured most of the Labor vote in the Prahran-South Yarra area, which is socially part of the
inner city, and managed to come second, although Labor pushed them back into third place in 2019.
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, who won the 2009 by-election that followed Costello's resignation, became a parliamentary secretary in 2014 and a
minister in 2015. Following the turmoil in the Libeal Party under Abbott and Turnbull, she decided not to recontest the seat in 2019.
Dr Katie Allen, Liberal MP for Higgins since 2019, a paediatric allergist and gastroenterologist with a PhD in medcine,
was director of the Centre of Food and Allergy Research at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute before entering politics. She
was the unsuccessful Liberal candidate for Prahran at the 2018 state election. The Labor candidate is Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah,
an infectious diseases specialist at the Alfred Hospital. She has been a critic of the Morrison government's response to the COVID
pandemiic, which sets up an interesting contest between two doctor candidates. The Greens candidate is Sonya Semmens, a marketting and
fundraising professional.
Demographics (on 2019 boundaries):
Median weekly household income: $1,911 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 14.6% (Australia 15.8%)
Australian born: 60.8% (Australia 66.7%)
Ancestry: Chinese 7.3%
Non-English-speaking households: 29.1% (Australia 22.2%)
Catholics 19.0% (Australia 22.6%)
Orthodox Christian: 5.0%
No religion 36.7% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 46.5% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 57.2% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 12.4% (Australia 22.9%)
Paying a mortgage: 24.8% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 43.4% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 25.6% (Australia 32.8%)
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