McMillan
Urban Country
Marginal Liberal, 5.0%
McMillan is a semi-urban/provincial electorate that takes in Pakenham, on Melbourne’s south-eastern fringe, then follows the Princes Highway corridor down through Drouin and Warragul to Moe, and covers most of south Gippsland, including such towns as Wonthaggi, Korumburra, Leongatha, Mirboo North and Foster. Liberal MP Russell Broadbent has had a chequered career. He represented the nearby seat of Corinella – since abolished – from 1990 to 1993. He won McMillan in 1996 and lost it in 1998, only to be returned to parliament at the last election.
McMillan was held continuously by the Liberals from its creation in 1949 until 1980, except for a Country Party stint from 1972–75. Since then it has changed hands more often than not.
The 2003 redistribution delivered McMillan to the Liberal Party by moving most of the Latrobe Valley into the seat of Gippsland. The growth of Melbourne’s commuter belt into semi-urban McMillan may improve Labor’s vote, but it will be difficult to make up the required ground. Its candidate is Christine Maxfield, whose husband lost his seat at last year’s state election when Labor’s vote went down sharply in the area. Despite this, Labor needs to win seats like McMillan to form government with a comfy majority.
Declared Candidates
- Theo Alblas, Citizens Electoral Council
- Russell Broadbent, Liberal Party
- Christine Maxfield, Australian Labor Party
2 PARTY PREFERRED BOOTH SWINGS 2004 ELECTION
2 PARTY PREFERRED VOTE BY BOOTH 2004 ELECTION
LEGEND:
Blue: Liberals
Red: Labor
Size of figure reflects the number of votes cast at booth
OTHER VICTORIAN MARGINALS
