The electorate of Canberra covers the southern half of the national capital together with the bulk of the Australian Capital Territory’s thinly populated remainder, with northern Canberra accommodated by the seat of Fraser. Both seats were created when the territory was first divided into two electorates in 1974. The Australian Capital Territory had been a single electorate since the expansion of parliament in 1949, but its member only obtained full voting rights in 1968. A third electorate of Namadgi was created for the 1996 election, accommodating Tuggeranong and its surrounds in Canberra’s far south and pushing the Canberra electorate north of the lake to include the city’s centre and inner north. However, the previous order was reinstated when the seat entitlement to slipped back to two at the 1998 election, in large part due to Howard government cutbacks to the federal public service. The two ACT electorates presently have enrolment of around 130,000 voters each, compared with a national average of around 96,000.
The Australian Capital Territory electorate was won by an independent at its first election in 1949, but was held by Labor after 1951. Kep Enderby came to the seat at a 1970 by-election and carried over to Canberra in 1974, serving as Lionel Murphy’s successor as Attorney-General in 1975. He was then dumped by a 10.4% swing to the Liberals at the December 1975 election, and for the next two terms the seat was held for the Liberals by John Haslem. The seat’s natural Labor inclination finally reasserted itself in 1980 with the election of Ros Kelly, who served in the Hawke-Keating ministries from 1987 until she fell victim to the still notorious “sports rorts” affair in 1994. Kelly’s indulgent departure from parliament a year later was followed by a disastrous by-election result for Labor, with Liberal candidate Brendan Smyth gaining the seat off a 16.2% swing.
Smyth unsuccessfully contested the new seat of Namadgi at the 1996 election, and Canberra was won easily for Labor by Bob McMullan, who had served the ACT as a Senator since 1988. The reassertion of the old boundaries in 1998 caused McMullan to move to Fraser, the Labor margin in the redrawn Canberra being 5.1% lower than the one he secured in 1996. Canberra went to Annette Ellis, who had entered parliament as the member for Namadgi in 1996, while Fraser MP Steve Darvagel agreed to go quietly after a brief parliamentary career which began when he succeeded John Langmore at a by-election in February 1997. Ellis added 7.2% to an existing 2.3% margin at the 1998 election, and held the seat safely thereafter.
In February 2010, both Ellis and McMullan announced they would not contest the election due later that year. Large fields of preselection contestants emerged for both seats, with the front-runner in Canberra initially thought to be Michael Cooney, chief-of-staff to ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr and a former adviser to opposition leaders Mark Latham and Kim Beazley. However, Cooney shortly withdrew amid suggestions Kevin Rudd was ready to use national executive intervention to block him. The eventual winner was Gai Brodtmann, a former DFAT public servant who had established a local communications consultancy with her husband, senior ABC reporter Chris Uhlmann. Together with Andrew Leigh’s win in Fraser, Brodtmann’s win was seen as a rebuff to local factional powerbrokers who had pursued a deal in which the Left would support Mary Wood, adviser to Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek and member of the Centre Coalition (Right), and the Right would back the Nick Martin, the party’s assistant national secretary and a member of the Left, in Fraser. However, Brodtmann was able to build a cross-factional support base of sufficient breadth to prevail over Wood by 123 votes to 109.
The Liberal candidate for the coming election is Tom Sefton, a Commonwealth public servant who has served in Afghanistan as a commando officer. Sefton polled a respectable 4.2% as a candidate for Molonglo at the October 2012 Australian Capital Territory election.
Mega George is not at all impressed with The Age this morning.
@FrancisWebster must be some internationally renowned expert on media, no?
Or just some highly opinionated git who has never run a newspaper?
“@latikambourke: OL Tony Abbott says he ‘rules nothing out’ in terms of a no confidence motion should Labor change its leader in the final parly week.”
Crank
Don’t be silly!
Had Rudd become PM again any earlier, old media would have destroyed him before the campaign.
The timing for the coming week is spot on.
More evidence of the manufacture of s457 outrage by the govt as a western suburbs dog whistle to racists. We already know the Dept’s figures are of a small and declining number of serious breaches. No wonder Gillard is seen as hollow:
“@jamesmassola: FOI – O’Connor staff to Dept on “10,000 rorts” claim: “I’m not sure what exact advice led him to that figure” ($) http://t.co/aFjTPmnlKO”
“@jamesmassola: Minister took 5 more days to back down slightly and claim 10,000 rorts was an estimate. FOI shows dept talking points don’t mention rorts”
zoomster@161
Ah, well bugger the workers then .
Nice to know that the Hacks really care.
The genius of Abbott
“This Govt will tax people to fund its spending”
Dur – that’s what governments do….those who understand economics call it (tax) revenue which all governments need to do things, like pay pensions, health, education etc
Centre – doesn’t matter when, if ever, Rudd will be buried under the weight of advertisements self written by the ALP.
Bring it on.
AussieAchmed
Posted Saturday, June 22, 2013 at 11:21 am | Permalink
The genius of Abbott
“This Govt will tax people to fund its spending”
——————————————————-
Perhaps Abbott is planning not to tax us to fund his spending if he gets elected
JV @205
PMO won’t even respond to FOI on 457 visa in their own office.
Political geniuses – apparently.
CC
I think that’s most of us :D.
The Age publishes a pertinent editorial, and the unhinging goes into overdrive.
AA @209 – just follow the ALP lead and borrow borrow borrow.
@AA/207
The old saying “Nothing is certain but death and taxes”.
Crank
What, like Costello saying Abbott is innumerate 😆
Rudd sure can do two things:
1. Campaign.
2. Cut through.
If Gillard stays leader, Abbott will not be held to account. It will all be about Gillard!
Compact Creek
You clearly don’t get the dynamics involved if you think a self written ALP advertisement will bury Rudd. People could care less about what Swan et al said. In fact, it makes Rudd even more popular
@CC/213
That’s not what Abbott said, he said ALP will Tax TAX and TAX.
Creek LOL meant Crank
@OliviaIllyria: Bc its not like The Age could just discuss policy anyway. They’re being forced to cover leadershit, FORCED I TELLS YA! #boycottfairfax
spur212 – I don’t think your opinion is going to get an opportunity to be tested.
The Age calls for Gillard to step aside for the the sake of the nation.
[The opposition under Tony Abbott has contentious policies on the carbon tax, the mining tax and schools funding; these are just the start of it. Yet Labor under Ms Gillard has been unable to step up to the contest. Mr Abbott is being allowed to run almost entirely unchallenged with his preposterous claim that a Coalition government would ”stop the boats”, in part by turning back the pathetic trail of rickety vessels laden with asylum seekers. This is a potentially dangerous and deeply dispiriting approach. Labor’s inability to unscramble this sloganeering is damning.]
And thats Fairfax. No such calls from Murdoch press. Wonder why that is? I saw Shorten yesterday pleading for votes for the sake of Australian democracy and the need for a strong opposition. Not a good look.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/editorial/for-the-sake-of-the-nation-ms-gillard-should-stand-aside-20130621-2oo6e.html
If Rudd gets back, the tax thread is gone, the mandate thread is gone and the lie thread is gone. That’s part 1 which allows the ALP to reestablish it’s own powerful threads such as Abbott’s issues and the Coalition’s policies being out of sync with the community’s views.
Then Rudd has to solidify it all by changing the carbon tax to an ETS floating price and bring a world of pain on the mining industry as well as taking care of business internally by federally intervening in the NSW ALP.
I regard Kevin Rudd as a great Labor man who ousted an entrenched Tory government – a feat achieved previously only by Andrew Fisher, Jim Scullin, Gough Whitlam and Bob Hawke.
I regard Julia Gillard as a great Labor woman who will go down in history as our first female prime minister and who has presided over a proud legislative record.
I also believe that her legacy will be swept aside and her reputation damned for ever as her party heads for a catastophic defeat.
At this stage there’s no certainty Mr Rudd would do a great deal better, but it’s a gamble well worth taking. At worst, he’d be left holding the baby.
Yesiree Bob@212
That’s right. Anyone who agrees with you is a courageous and pertinent. Everyone else is an irrelevant lunatic.
Didn’t Anna Bligh and KK end up pleading for a few votes just to get some ‘balance’?
How’d that work out?
[Then Rudd has to solidify it all by changing the carbon tax to an ETS floating price and bring a world of pain on the mining industry as well as taking care of business internally by federally intervening in the NSW ALP.]
And then we get a unicorn, right?
Puff has put it well
“@PuffyTMD: The #AGE Editorial is blackmailing ALP. ‘Get rid of PMJG or The AGE will not discuss your policies.’ Outrageous. #auspol #alp Blames PMJG!”
Ged Kerney on 24 now
zoomster
“Worse things than losing an election.” Utterly empty and despicable but on all fours with Latham’s point about the affiliated union oligarchy you support:
[“Over time, the preservation of power internally is regarded as a higher priority than satisfying the organisation’s external goals
Kearney sorry
The national interest lies in putting Abbott under maximum pressure, and under maximum scrutiny.
I assume few disagree with that.
Gillard has proved incapable of doing either. Its over. There’s no more ‘test period’ to be had. She has failed to do it.
You can accept that failure meekly, or do something about it, ALP.
So how are the Greens going to campaign for the election?
Well apparently, they are not going to mention the words “carbon tax”. 😆
lefty e
So has The Age.
So have you.
So have the voters who out of their own decisions are going to freely vote for the Coalition.
Let’s all take some responsibility here instead of trying to pass the buck.
lefty e
Learn from Age editorial and today’s Dreyfuss presser.
Media just wants leadership. Anything to keep pressure off Abbott.
Changing to Rudd is what media salivating for because gives reason not to cover policy
murdoch’s for rudd.
rudd, rudd, rudd.
every flamin’ where….
leadershit here. leadershit there.
acres of print. soundbites, soundbites…..
tell me something.
if rudd is the answer …..
if rudd is the one …. to save Labor
if rudd is the one …. to beat abbott
if rudd is the only one to do this.
why does murdoch give him so much space?
huh?
what’s murdoch pushing for rudd, when abbott is his boy.
cos, y’know …..
‘she won’t go away.’
‘she won’t go away ….. ‘
‘why won’t she just go away ?’
why won’t she just lie down …… ?’
….’and go away …. ?’
So.
rudd, rudd, rudd.
they CAN make HIM go away.
But.
Not.
Julia Gillard.
…. and you know.
Julia Gillard……
is going to debate
with Tony Abbott.
on Policy.
Tony’s eyes will bleed.
Tony doesn’t do Policy.
Tony Abbott will do
what Tony Abbott has rehearsed……
Straight for the Door.
This morning I watched a repeat of the 7.30NSW program. If O’Farrell’s treatment of public servants, TAFE, hospitals, is a hint of what Abbott’s team will do… It’s similar to Campbell Newman. Why don’t people see this is what Libs do.
lefty e@231
Which is exactly what the Age’s editorial was saying. Trouble is that anyone who points out those concerns gets screamed down.
Oh gee, The Age *merely* pointed out some concerns by calling for JG to step aside for KR.
I see.
[Which is exactly what the Age’s editorial was saying. Trouble is that anyone who points out those concerns gets screamed down.]
As I said earlier if they wanted to be taken seriously they shouldn’t have written an obviously flawed editorial.
Will any organ of the discredited MSM rise above the pack and provide some decent and searching evaluation of policies?
Can we have a time out for Meguire Bob… his level of Dick-headed-ness is reaching unprecedented levels of delusion.
For example, “Yesiree Bob is an idiot, but an otherwise nice guy”. You shouldn’t have any problem with this, it says you’re a nice guy.
DN, yep, let’s all walk blindly off that cliff and hand the most reckless LOTO in Australian political history the keys to both houses on a silver platter.
MB is one of the most consistent posters here. 🙂
ONYA Meguire Bob!
…. their wettin’ their pants !
@Sean/241
Only if we can time you out too?
YB, where did I promote walking off a cliff? You seem to be reading things I didn’t write! In fact, point out to me one word of mine where I disagreed (or agreed) with any points that article made.
And
….. ONYA Meguire Bob !
They’re Wettin’ Their Pants ….. Again !
I have seen this level of unhinging from reality since Craig Thomsons lawyer boldly proclaimed CT wouldn’t be charged with anything… 150 Charges later… well you get the point.
DisplayName@242
And when you’re beat, your last gasp is to descend into ad hominem