|
|
|
|
| Adam Carr's Election Archive
|
Australian federal election, 2025
Division of Maribyrnong, Victoria
Named for: Maribyrnong River (Indigenous word meaning "edible root"). The river was first called the Saltwater, but had been given the current name by 1845.
Western Melbourne: Ascot Vale, Avondale Heights, Essendon, Gladstone Park, Niddrie
Enrolment at 2019 election: 112,879
Enrolment at 2022 election: 108,937 (-03.4)
1999 republic referendum: Yes 56.8
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 59.9
2023 Voice referendum: Yes 51.3
 |
Sitting member: Hon Bill Shorten (Labor): Elected 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022. Retiring 2025
Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme
Minister for Government Services
|
2007 Labor majority over Liberal: 15.3%
2010 Labor majority over Liberal: 16.9%
2013 Labor majority over Liberal: 11.4%
2016 Labor majority over Liberal: 12.3%
2019 Labor majority over Liberal: 11.2%
2022 Labor majority over Liberal: 12.5%
2025 notional Labor majority over Liberal: 12.5%
Status: Safe Labor
Labor two-party vote 1983-2022
2022 results
Statistics and history
Announced candidates:
 |
Jo Briskey
Australian Labor Party |
Division of Maribyrnong
Maribyrnong was created in 1906, and at various times has covered most of the western and north-western suburbs of
Melbourne. In 1949 it was cut back to the area around Essendon, but later it expanded to the west to take in
newer suburbs such as Sunshine and St Albans. The 2018 redistribution created the new St Albans-based seat of
Fraser,
pushing Maribyrnong to the south-east, taking territory from
Melbourne and
Wills
Maribyrnong is a solidly working-class seat, with 17% of its workforce engaged in manufacturing and a high proportion of
people born in non English speaking countries. It is also the second-most Catholic electorate in Australia (35.0%), a fact of
considerable importance in its history.
Maribyrnong has been held by the Labor Party for most of its history, the only significant exception being the period
from 1955 to 1969, when the Democratic Labor Party, with its base among working-class Catholics, directed its preferences
to the Liberals, enabling them to win the seat. Members for Maribyrnong include Labor ministers
Arthur Drakeford,
Dr Moss Cass and
Alan Griffiths.
Bob Sercombe won the seat in 1996, but lost his preselection in a coup organised by the Labor Unity faction in 2006.
His successor was Bill Shorten, the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, who has held it safely since.
Bill Shorten, Labor MP for Maribyrnong since 2007, worked for
Gareth Evans,
Bill Landeryou and other Labor figures and as a
lawyer for Maurice Blackburn, a leading Labor law firm. He became Victorian State Secretary of the AWU in 1998 and National
Secretary in 2001. He gained a national reputation at the time of the 2006 Beaconsfield mine disaster in Tasmania.
In 2007 Shorten entered Parliament. It was no secret that
Kevin Rudd saw him as a threat, and was determined not to promote him.
As a result, Shorten was one of the organisers of the June 2010 coup that replaced Rudd with
Julia Gillard. After the
2010 election he rose rapidly to Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and Minister for Education. After the 2013
election won the Labor leadership, defeating
Anthony Albanese.
Shorten's dogged 2016 campaign saw Labor gain 14 seats and reduce the Turnbull government to a one-seat majority. This boosted
Shorten's standing and enabled him to survive for the next three years in opposition. He was widely expected to win the 2019
election, and most polls supported this view, but
Scott Morrison was able successfully to exploit fears about Labor's
policies on taxation and climate change and retain government. Shorten then resigned as leader. Since 2022 he has been Minister for the National
Disability Insurance Scheme and for Government Services in the Albanese Government. In August he announced that he would retire at
the 2025 election.
The new Labor candidate will be Jo Briskey, national co-ordinator of the United Workers Union, and daughter of former Queensland state
Labor MP Darryl Briskey. She contested Bonner in 2019 and moved to Melbourne in the same year.
Back to main page
| |