| Corangamite AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1901 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Libby Coker | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Lake Corangamite | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 114,177 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 640 km2 (247.1 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Provincial | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
TheDivision of Corangamite (/kəræŋɡəmaɪt/) is anAustralian electoral division in thestate ofVictoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of theoriginal 65 divisions to be contested at thefirst federal election. It is named forLake Corangamite, although the lake no longer falls within the division's boundaries.
The division was redrawn in 2021 and 2024, becoming a much smaller seat due to increased population growth. It now covers 640 square kilometres (250 sq mi) (down from 5,441 square kilometres (2,101 sq mi)) along the Victorian coast, including an eastern part of the growing surf coast area and the southern suburbs ofGeelong. Starting atQueenscliff in the east, the electorate takes in the entireBellarine Peninsula, then runs down the surf coast as far asBells Beach.[1]
Since the2019 federal election, the current Member for Corangamite isLibby Coker, a member of theAustralian Labor Party.
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.[2]
When the division was proclaimed in 1900, it covered roughly what is nowCity of Warrnambool,Moyne Shire,Corangamite Shire,Colac Otway Shire andSurf Coast Shire. It included the areas ofLake Corangamite,Warrnambool,Port Campbell,Apollo Bay,Camperdown,Colac andWinchelsea. Over time, its boundaries have changed massively in redistributions, and at some point in time, it had extended northwards up toMaryborough andStawell and eastwards toGeelong,Bellarine Peninsula andQueenscliff.[3]
In 1984, the division had shrunk to exclude Port Campbell and Camperdown, but still covered majority of the future Colac Otway and Surf Coast shires, some areas in Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula, and Lake Corangamite itself. It then covered similar areas until the 2021 redistribution.[3] In that redistribution, the seat was shrunk even further towards Geelong, losing its western half (including Lake Corangamite) to the adjacent seat ofWannon and the north toBallarat.[4] In 2024, it was proposed that the seat be shrunk further towards Geelong and lose its western half toCorio and Wannon. Only a small portion of Surf Coast Shire includingTorquay,Bellbrae andJan Juc would remain included in the seat.[5] This was eventually formalised in October that year.[6]
Between the 2010 and 2024 redistributions, the seat had shrunk from 7,624 km2 (2,944 sq mi) to 640 km2 (250 sq mi), an approximately 92% decrease.[7][1]
Until the 1930s it was usually a marginal seat which leaned toward the conservative parties, but was won by theAustralian Labor Party during high-tide elections. In1918, it was the first seat won by what would become theCountry Party.
It was held by the Liberals (and their immediate predecessor, theUnited Australia Party) without interruption from 1934 to 2007. A reasonably safe seat for most of the time from the 1950s to the 1990s, it became increasingly less safe from 1998 onward as successive redistributions pushed it further into Geelong. This resulted in the seat falling toDarren Cheeseman, the Labor candidate, by less than one percent at the2007 federal election for the first time since1929. Cheeseman was only the third Labor member ever to win the seat. Labor retained the seat in2010 election against former journalistSarah Henderson, making Cheeseman the first Labor MP to win re-election in the seat. Henderson sought a rematch in2013, and won.
Henderson retained her seat in2016 but a redistribution completed prior to the2019 election pushed the seat further into Geelong. This resulted in the seat becoming notionally Labor, albeit with a very narrow margin. As Henderson failed to gain a swing towards her at the election, she lost the seat to the Labor candidate,Libby Coker. Coker's win in 2019 was historically significant, as it marked the first time that the non-Labor parties had been in government without holding Corangamite.
In 2018, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) published its report on the proposed redistribution of Victoria's federal divisions. The report proposed renaming Corangamite to Cox, after swimming instructor May Cox. Incumbent MPSarah Henderson said the new name "has already prompted some ridicule on social media", due to "Cox" being ahomophone of "cocks".[8] In the commission's final determination, the decision was made to retain the name of Corangamite.[9] In 2021, the AEC again proposed to rename Corangamite, this time to Tucker after Aboriginal activistMargaret Tucker, however in the final determination, the renaming proposal was also abandoned over concerns that the name would be vandalised as "Fucker".[10]
In July 2021, City of Greater Geelong Mayor and Bellarine Ward Councillor Stephanie Asher was preselected as the Liberal candidate for Corangamite.[11] However, Coker won a second term with 57 percent of the two-party vote, a swing of six percent. This was the strongest showing for Labor in the seat’s history.
Prominent members of the seat have includedJames Scullin, who later became thePrime Minister of Australia in 1929-32; Fraser government MinisterTony Street and longtime Liberal backbencherStewart McArthur.[12]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Libby Coker | 38,814 | 37.31 | −1.09 | |
| Liberal | Darcy Dunstan | 35,488 | 34.12 | +0.10 | |
| Greens | Mitch Pope | 14,925 | 14.35 | −0.98 | |
| Independent | Kate Lockhart | 4,565 | 4.39 | +4.39 | |
| One Nation | Colin Seabrook | 3,343 | 3.21 | +0.77 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Harley Mackenzie | 3,161 | 3.04 | +3.04 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | James Jackson | 2,452 | 2.36 | +1.51 | |
| Libertarian | Paul Barker | 1,272 | 1.22 | −1.23 | |
| Total formal votes | 104,020 | 96.28 | +0.14 | ||
| Informal votes | 4,023 | 3.72 | −0.14 | ||
| Turnout | 108,043 | 94.67 | +6.61 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Libby Coker | 60,381 | 58.05 | +0.21 | |
| Liberal | Darcy Dunstan | 43,639 | 41.95 | −0.21 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +0.21 | |||
38°14′35″S143°49′16″E / 38.243°S 143.821°E /-38.243; 143.821
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