Electoral Form Guide: Benambra
Electorate: Benambra
Margin: Liberal 7.7%
Upper house region: Northern Victoria
Federal: Indi
Click here for Victorian Electoral Commission map
The candidates
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O’CONNOR, Jennifer
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Electorate analysis: Benambra covers north-eastern Victoria including Wodonga and 9,000 square kilometres of rural territory south of the Murray. It has been in conservative hands at all times since its creation way back in 1877, switching from the National Party to the Liberals when long-standing member Tom Mitchell retired in 1976. The next members were Lou Lieberman, who went on to serve as the federal member for Indi from 1993 to 2001, and Tony Plowman after 1992. Plowman’s retirement in 2006 gave the Nationals hope the seat might provide a refuge for Bill Baxter, an upper house member for North Eastern province who had been left homeless by electoral reform, but he finished a distant third behind Labor with 18.1 per cent of the vote. Wodonga police officer Bill Tilley accordingly had little trouble keeping the seat in Liberal hands.
Analysis written by William Bowe. Read William’s blog, The Poll Bludger.