| Eden-Monaro AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1901 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Kristy McBain | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Eden andMonaro | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 121,441 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 31,913 km2 (12,321.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
TheDivision of Eden-Monaro (/iːdənməˈnɛəroʊ/) is anAustralian electoral division in thestate ofNew South Wales. It includes the cities ofQueanbeyan,Goulburn,Cooma,Bega andEden. It is currently represented byLabor MPKristy McBain.
Eden-Monaro currently includesGoulburn Mulwaree Council,Queanbeyan–Palerang Regional Council,Snowy Monaro Regional Council,Bega Valley Shire and part ofEurobodalla Shire, includingNarooma,Bodalla andTuross Head.
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.[1]
The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of theoriginal 65 divisions to be contested at thefirst federal election. It is named for the town ofEden and theMonaro district of southern New South Wales.
Its boundaries have changed relatively little throughout its history. It originally extended to theMolonglo River through Canberra (where it bordered onWerriwa) andSt Georges Basin in the north, theGreat Dividing Range and theBrindabellas in the west, the Victorian border in the south and the Pacific Ocean in the east.[2] It currently includes the cities ofQueanbeyan andGoulburn and the towns ofBega andCooma, as it did before the enlargement of Parliament at the 1984 distribution when it lost Goulburn. Between the 2014 distribution[3] and the 2024 distribution it completely surrounded theAustralian Capital Territory, but otherwise it has been generally east of the territory. At the 2024 distribution, the local government areas ofYass Valley andSnowy Valleys were removed from the electorate and replaced byGoulburn Mulwaree fromHume. It also acquired the small town ofTuross Head fromGilmore.[4]
Until1943 non-Labor parties held the seat for all but three years. Since then, it has been consistently marginal, split between provincial territory that votes strongly forLabor and rural areas that vote equally strongly for theLiberals (and their predecessors) or theNationals. However, it was in Labor hands for all but one term from 1943 to 1975.
Up to the2016 election, Eden-Monaro was long regarded as Australia's most well-known "bellwether seat". From1972 to 2013, Eden-Monaro was won by the party that also won the election. During this time, all its sitting members were defeated at the polls – none retired or resigned.
Liberal incumbentPeter Hendy was defeated by Labor'sMike Kelly at the2016 election. Kelly had previously represented Eden-Monaro from 2007 to 2013. Kelly's 2016 victory made him the seat's first opposition MP elected since 1969; it was also the first time since then that the non-Labor parties had been in government without holding Eden-Monaro. The nation's new bellwether became the seat ofRobertson – continually won by the party that also won government since the1983 election. "Best" bellwether aside,ABCpsephologistAntony Green classed a total of eleven electorates as bellwethers in his 2016 election guide.[5]
Labor’sKristy McBain became the first woman to represent the division when she narrowly held the seat in the2020 Eden-Monaro by-election.[6] At the2022 election, she held the seat with a large swing to her, boosting her two-party margin to 8 points, the strongest result in the seat for either side of politics since1934.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Kristy McBain | 46,088 | 43.04 | +4.54 | |
| Liberal | Jo van der Plaat | 34,142 | 31.88 | −2.49 | |
| Greens | Emma Goward | 10,739 | 10.03 | +1.45 | |
| One Nation | Richard Graham | 7,451 | 6.96 | +2.59 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | Wade Cox | 2,587 | 2.42 | +2.42 | |
| Independent | Andrew Thaler | 2,499 | 2.33 | +0.69 | |
| HEART | Fraser Buchanan | 1,881 | 1.76 | +1.05 | |
| Independent | Brian Fisher | 1,701 | 1.59 | +1.59 | |
| Total formal votes | 107,088 | 94.02 | +0.48 | ||
| Informal votes | 6,808 | 5.98 | −0.48 | ||
| Turnout | 113,896 | 93.84 | +0.95 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Kristy McBain | 61,270 | 57.21 | +1.13 | |
| Liberal | Jo van der Plaat | 45,818 | 42.79 | −1.13 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +1.13 | |||
36°17′31″S149°20′38″E / 36.292°S 149.344°E /-36.292; 149.344
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