| Batman AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |
|---|---|
 Division of Batman (green) inMelbourne, Victoria | |
| Created | 1906 |
| Abolished | 2019 |
| Namesake | John Batman |
| Electors | 108,935 (2016) |
| Area | 66 km2 (25.5 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan |
| Coordinates | 37°43′59″S145°00′50″E / 37.733°S 145.014°E /-37.733; 145.014 |
TheDivision of Batman was anAustralian Electoral Division in thestate ofVictoria. It took its name fromJohn Batman, one of the founders of the city of Melbourne. The division was created in 1906, replacing theDivision of Northern Melbourne, and was abolished in 2019 and replaced by theDivision of Cooper.[1]
The division was located in Melbourne's northern suburbs, comprising the entireCity of Darebin and parts ofCity of Yarra andCity of Whittlesea at the time of abolition. Held by Labor for all but 10 yearsof its history, Batman traditionally had been a safeLabor seat. However, theGreens made the seat a contest beginning with the2010 election, where they reduced Labor from a 26.0% margin to a 7.9% margin. Though Labor increased their margin against the Greens to 10.6% in2013, the Greens reduced Labor's margin to just 1.0% in2016. At the2018 Batman by-election however, Labor increased their margin to 4.4% against the Greens.[2]
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by theAustralian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[3]
When the division was created in 1906, it includedFitzroy,Fitzroy North andClifton Hill. It then expanded to includeCollingwood,Carlton North andPrinces Hill in 1913. In 1922, the division was massively expanded to the north-east to include the entireCity of Northcote andCity of Preston (which were previously in theDivision of Bourke), while losing Collingwood, Carlton North, Princes Hill and part of Fitzroy. It then lost Clifton Hill, part of Fitzroy North and the remainder of Fitzroy in 1937.[4]
In 1949, the division was massively shrunk in area size, losing its northern two thirds. These northern areas in the City of Preston and part of City of Northcote became the newDivision of Darebin.[5] It also lost its last remaining areas in Fitzroy North and no longer included any areas that it included in 1906. However, Batman was expanded into the east past theDarebin Creek to includeIvanhoe,Ivanhoe East andEaglemont within theCity of Heidelberg. The division then had minor changes in its boundaries until 1977, with gains in Clifton Hill again as well as theHeidelberg area. In 1977, it was massively expanded towards the north-east to include some of City of Preston and more of City of Heidelberg, extending up toLa Trobe University andMacleod.[4]
In 1984, the eastern half of the division (majority of which was within City of Heidelberg) became the newDivision of Jagajaga, while the division regained some areas west ofPlenty Road such asReservoir.[4][6] Since then, the division underwent further minor boundary changes, while still mostly based in the City of Northcote and City of Preston (both of which merged to becomeCity of Darebin in 1994). Parts of the City of Northcote such asAlphington did not become part of the City of Darebin but became part ofCity of Yarra. However, these areas continued to be within the Division of Batman.
In 2003, the division became co-extensive with the City of Darebin, losing the areas ofCoburg North (within City of Moreland, nowMerri-bek) and Alphington. In 2010, to the south, it re-gained Alphington and part of Clifton Hill (within City of Yarra) up to theYarra River andEastern Freeway. To the north, it also gained parts ofThomastown orBundoora, which were in theCity of Whittlesea, up to theMetropolitan Ring Road.[4]
TheDivision of Cooper replaced Batman in 2018. The new division had similar boundaries to Batman, but did not include Thomastown and Bundoora, and also included the part of Coburg North that Batman lost in 2003.[4][7]
At the time of abolition, it covered an area of approximately 66 square kilometres (25 sq mi) fromThomastown/Bundoora in the north toClifton Hill in the south, withMerri Creek providing the vast majority of the western boundary andDarebin Creek, parts ofMacleod and Plenty Road inBundoora providing the eastern boundary. The suburbs ofAlphington,Clifton Hill,Fairfield,Kingsbury,Northcote,Preston,Reservoir, andThornbury; and parts ofBundoora,Macleod, andThomastown were in this division.[1]
When it was created it covered the inner suburbs ofCarlton andFitzroy, but successive boundary changes moved it steadily northwards, ending with it includingNorthcote, Preston, Reservoir and Thornbury.
Located in Labor's traditional heartland of north Melbourne, Batman had been in Labor hands for all but two terms since 1910, and without interruption since 1969. It was held byBrian Howe from 1977 to 1996, a senior minister in theHawke andKeating governments, and alsoDeputy Prime Minister 1991–95. Howe was succeeded at the 1996 election byMartin Ferguson, moving to Parliament after six years as President of theACTU. Ferguson served as a senior Labor frontbencher, and a minister in theRudd andGillard governments, before resigning from the ministry in March 2013 after thefailed challenge to Gillard's leadership. He was succeeded at the 2013 election by formerSenatorDavid Feeney, who had been a parliamentary secretary in the Rudd and Gillard governments.[8]
The 2PP vote has historically been stronger for the ALP in the north of the electorate, and the Greens vote stronger in the south. The north and south of the electorate are divided by Bell Street, Preston, which has been referred to as the "hipster-proof fence" or "Quinoa curtain".[9]
In 2018, as a result of the2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, Feeney resigned and decided not to seek pre-selection to run at the ensuing by-election. The2018 Batman by-election held on 17 March saw the election of Labor'sGed Kearney.[2]
In June 2018, theAustralian Electoral Commission announced that, at the2019 Australian federal election, the division would be re-namedCooper, afterAboriginal community leader and activistWilliam Cooper.[10]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Jabez Coon (1869–1935) | Protectionist | 12 December 1906 – 26 May 1909 | Lost seat | |
| Liberal | 26 May 1909 – 13 April 1910 | ||||
 | Henry Beard (1864–1910) | Labor | 13 April 1910 – 18 December 1910 | Previously held theVictorian Legislative Assembly seat ofJika Jika. Died in office | |
.jpg) | Frank Brennan (1873–1950) | 8 February 1911 – 19 December 1931 | Served as minister underScullin. Lost seat | ||
 | Samuel Dennis (1870–1945) | United Australia | 19 December 1931 – 15 September 1934 | Lost seat | |
 | Frank Brennan (1873–1950) | Labor | 15 September 1934 – 31 October 1949 | Retired | |
 | Alan Bird (1906–1962) | 10 December 1949 – 21 July 1962 | Died in office | ||
 | Sam Benson (1909–1995) | 1 September 1962 – 31 August 1966 | Expelled from Labor. Retired[11] | ||
| Independent | 31 August 1966 – 29 September 1969 | ||||
 | Horrie Garrick (1918–1982) | Labor | 25 October 1969 – 10 November 1977 | Lost preselection and retired | |
.jpg) | Brian Howe (1936–) | 10 December 1977 – 2 March 1996 | Served as minister andDeputy Prime Minister underHawke andKeating. Retired | ||
 | Martin Ferguson (1953–) | 2 March 1996 – 5 August 2013 | Served as minister underRudd andGillard. Retired | ||
 | David Feeney (1970–) | 7 September 2013 – 1 February 2018 | Previously a member of theSenate. Election results declared void due todual citizenship. Did not contest subsequentby-election | ||
.jpg) | Ged Kearney (1963–) | 17 March 2018 – 11 April 2019 | Transferred to the Division ofCooper after Batman was abolished in 2019 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Ged Kearney | 36,840 | 43.14 | +7.87 | |
| Greens | Alex Bhathal | 33,725 | 39.49 | +3.26 | |
| Conservatives | Kevin Bailey | 5,471 | 6.41 | +6.41 | |
| Animal Justice | Miranda Smith | 2,528 | 2.96 | +1.29 | |
| Rise Up Australia | Yvonne Gentle | 2,217 | 2.60 | +2.60 | |
| Independent | Teresa van Lieshout | 1,245 | 1.46 | +1.46 | |
| Liberty Alliance | Debbie Robinson | 1,186 | 1.39 | +1.39 | |
| Sustainable Australia | Mark McDonald | 951 | 1.11 | +1.11 | |
| Adrian Whitehead | 745 | 0.87 | +0.87 | ||
| People's Party | Tegan Burns | 496 | 0.58 | +0.58 | |
| Total formal votes | 85,404 | 93.79 | +1.57 | ||
| Informal votes | 5,650 | 6.21 | −1.57 | ||
| Turnout | 91,054 | 81.40 | −8.28 | ||
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Ged Kearney | 46,446 | 54.38 | +3.35 | |
| Greens | Alex Bhathal | 38,958 | 45.62 | −3.35 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +3.35 | |||
