Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive

Adam Carr's Election Archive

Australian federal election, 2022
Division of Hindmarsh, South Australia

Named for: Captain John Hindmarsh (1785-1860), Governor of South Australia 1836-38


< Higgins previous seat | next seat Hinkler >
Return to alphabetical list of seats


Western Adelaide: Grange, Henley Beach, Novar Gardens, Port Adelaide, West Lakes
State seats: All of Cheltenham and Lee, parts of Colton, Port Adelaide and West Torrens
Local government areas: Parts of Charles Sturt, Port Adelaide-Enfield and West Torrens
Borders with: Adelaide, Boothby and Makin
Enrolment at 2019 election: 122,664
Enrolment at 2022 election: 128,814 (+05.0)
1999 republic referendum: No 50.5
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 63.3


Sitting member: Mark Butler (Labor): Elected (for Port Adelaide) 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, (for Hindmarsh) 2019

2007 Labor majority over Liberal: 5.1%
2010 Labor majority over Liberal: 5.7%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 1.9%
2016 Labor majority over Liberal: 0.4%
2019 Labor majority over Liberal: 6.5%

Liberal two-party vote 1983-2019

Status: Marginal Labor

Best Labor booths, two-party vote: Woodville Gardens (80.0), Mansfield Park (76.0), Pennington (75.2), Ottaway (73.2), Birkenhead (72.1)
Best Liberal booths, two-party vote: Glenelg PPVC (59.3), Novar Gardens (57.7), West Beach (55.7), West Lakes Shore (54.9), Lockleys North (54.2)


  • 2019 results
  • Statistics and history

  • Candidates in ballot-paper order:

    1. Patrick O'Sullivan
    Australian Greens
    2. Dr Anna Finizio
    Liberal Party
    3. Walter Johnson
    Pauline Hanson's One Nation
    4. Hon Mark Butler
    Australian Labor Party
    5. Dianne Richards
    Australian Federation Party
    6. George Melissourgos
    United Australia Party
    7. Jamie Witt
    Great Australian Party
    8. Matt Pastro
    Animal Justice Party

    Candidate websites:

    Hon Mark Butler
    Dr Anna Finizio
    George Melissourgos
    Patrick O'Sullivan
    Matt Pastro
    Dianne Richards
    Jamie Witt

    Division of Hindmarsh

    Hindmarsh has existed since South Australia was first divided into electorates in 1903. From 1903 to 1949 it included the Port Adelaide area and was one of the safest Labor seats in Australia, and even after the creation of the seat of Port Adelaide in 1949 it remained a very strong Labor seat. Successive redistributions, however, pushed the seat southwards into more middle-class areas, and this combined with demographic change to weaken the seat for Labor. It finally fell to the Liberals in 1993 and was not regained until 2004.

    The 2018 redistribution abolished Port Adelaide, and as a result Hindmarsh was returned to something like its pre-1949 borders. It still includes some Liberal-voting areas such as Henley Beach and Novar Gardens, but overall it is now once again a safe Labor seat.

    Before the redistribution Hindmarsh had an ageing population, with the highest proportion of over-65s of any electorate, and also had one of the lowest levels of couples with children. These features are less pronounced on the new boundaries. It will still have a high level of people born in non English speaking countries (particularly Greece), and even more whose parents were.

    Past members for Hindmarsh include the Labor veterans and Cabinet ministers Norman Makin and Clyde Cameron. Christine Gallus won the seat for the Liberals in 1993. She was very popular and Labor's Steve Georganas twice narrowly failed to defeat her before finally winning the seat when she retired. He was twice re-elected before being defeated by the Liberals in 2013, then won the seat back in 2016.

    As a result of the redistribution, in 2019 Georganas moved to the vacant seat of Adelaide, and the Labor MP for Port Adelaide, Mark Butler, contested Hindmarsh.

    Mark Butler, Labor MP for Port Adelaide from 2007 to 2019 and for Hindmarsh since 2019, was South Australian state secretary of the Liquour, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union before his election. Despite this, he comes from a prominent Adelaide establishment family. He is the great-grandson and great-great-grandson respectively of two conservative premiers of South Australia, Sir Richard B Butler and Sir Richard L Butler. He was a parliamentary secretary from 2009 and a minister from 2010. He was Minister for Climate Change and for the Environment, Heritage and Water in the last months of the Rudd-Gillard Government. He is now Shadow Minister for Health and Ageing. He was federal president of the ALP 2015-18. The Greens candidate is Patrick O'Sullivan, a technical services engineer at the University of South Australia.

    Demographics:

    Median weekly household income: $1,235 (Australia $1,438)
    People over 65: 20.0% (Australia 15.8%)
    Australian born: 68.2% (Australia 66.7%)
    Ancestry: Italian 7.0%
    Non-English-speaking households: 25.3% (Australia 22.2%)
    Catholics 23.5% (Australia 22.6%)
    Orthodox Christian: 06.2
    No religion 30.2% (Australia 29.6%)
    University graduates: 18.9% (Australia 22.0%)
    Professional and managerial employment: 32.9% (Australia 35.2%)
    Employed in manufacturing and construction: 25.2% (Australia 22.9%)
    Paying a mortgage: 31.6% (Australia 34.5%)
    Renting: 30.3% (Australia 30.9%)
    Traditional families: 27.5% (Australia 32.8%)



    Gallery of Members for Hindmarsh



    Boundaries following most recent redistribution:



    See full-size map of this Division



  • Back to main page