| Hotham AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |
|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |
| Created | 1969 |
| MP | Clare O'Neil |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | Sir Charles Hotham |
| Electors | 119,047 (2025) |
| Area | 81 km2 (31.3 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan |
TheDivision of Hotham is anAustralian electoral division inVictoria. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs ofMelbourne. Hotham covers an area of approximately 83 square kilometres fromOakleigh in the north toKeysborough in the south. The division includes the suburbs ofBentleigh East,Carnegie,Clarinda,Clayton South,Coatesville,Huntingdale,Murrumbeena,Noble Park,Oakleigh East,Oakleigh South,Springvale,Waverley Park,Westall in their entirety; as well as parts ofBentleigh,Clayton,Hughesdale,Keysborough,Mulgrave,Noble Park North,Oakleigh andSpringvale South.[1]
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]
The Division includes parts of the local government areas ofGlen Eira City Council,Greater Dandenong City Council,Kingston City Council andMonash City Council.[1]
The division was created in 1969 and is named forSir Charles Hotham,Governor of Victoria 1854–55.[1] The division was originally created as a reconfigured version of theDivision of Higinbotham, and as such was on paper a safeLiberal seat. The last member for Higinbotham, prominent LiberalDon Chipp, transferred to Hotham. Chipp served as a minister underJohn Gorton,William McMahon andMalcolm Fraser—as well asHarold Holt andJohn McEwen while he held his old seat. He ended up quitting the party in 1977 due to personal animosity towards Fraser to form theAustralian Democrats, and shortly thereafter transferred to theSenate.
Demographic changes during the 1970s made the Liberals' hold increasingly tenuous, and it was nearly lost toLabor in1977 despite a national Coalition landslide. Chipp's Liberal successorRoger Johnston finally lost Hotham to Labor in1980. Labor has held the seat since then, and consolidated its hold on the seat in the 1990s to make it one of the party's safer seats in Melbourne.
Besides Chipp, the seat's most prominent member wasSimon Crean, who wasOpposition Leader from 2001 until December 2003 and was either a minister or opposition frontbencher from June 1991 to March 2013. Crean retired at the2013 election and was succeeded by fellow Labor memberClare O'Neil. Since 2022, O'Neil has been the Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Cyber Security in theAlbanese Labor Government.[3]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Don Chipp (1925–2006) | Liberal | 25 October 1969 – 24 March 1977 | Previously held the Division ofHiginbotham. Served as minister underGorton,McMahon andFraser. Transferred to theSenate | |
| Independent | 24 March 1977 – 9 May 1977 | ||||
| Australian Democrats | 9 May 1977 – 10 November 1977 | ||||
 | Roger Johnston (1930–2020) | Liberal | 10 December 1977 – 18 October 1980 | Lost seat | |
 | Lewis Kent (1927–2014) | Labor | 18 October 1980 – 24 March 1990 | Did not contest in1990. Failed to win the Division ofCorinella | |
.jpg) | Simon Crean (1949–2023) | 24 March 1990 – 5 August 2013 | Served as minister underHawke,Keating,Rudd andGillard. Served asOpposition Leader from 2001 to 2003. Retired | ||
.jpg) | Clare O'Neil (1980–) | 7 September 2013 – present | Incumbent. Currently a minister underAlbanese |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Clare O'Neil | 51,880 | 48.85 | +5.74 | |
| Liberal | Harmick Singh Matharu | 27,346 | 25.75 | −2.81 | |
| Greens | Martin Barry | 15,780 | 14.86 | +0.21 | |
| One Nation | Stuart Fogarty | 4,959 | 4.67 | +2.29 | |
| Family First | Mark Brown | 3,592 | 3.38 | +3.38 | |
| Citizens | Tony Vainoras | 2,654 | 2.50 | +2.46 | |
| Total formal votes | 106,211 | 96.64 | +0.19 | ||
| Informal votes | 3,692 | 3.36 | −0.19 | ||
| Turnout | 109,903 | 92.36 | +2.59 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Clare O'Neil | 71,012 | 66.86 | +5.27 | |
| Liberal | Harmick Singh Matharu | 35,199 | 33.14 | −5.27 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +5.27 | |||
37°56′46″S145°05′49″E / 37.946°S 145.097°E /-37.946; 145.097