| Brunswick Victoria—Legislative Assembly | |
|---|---|
_2022.svg)  Interactive map of electoral district boundaries from the2022 state election | |
| State | Victoria |
| Dates current |
|
| MP | Tim Read |
| Party | Greens |
| Namesake | Brunswick |
| Electors | 53,340 (2018) |
| Area | 14 km2 (5.4 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan |
| Coordinates | 37°46′S144°58′E / 37.767°S 144.967°E /-37.767; 144.967 |
Theelectoral district of Brunswick is an electorate of theVictorian Legislative Assembly. It covers an area of 14 square kilometres (5.4 sq mi) in inner northernMelbourne, and includes the suburbs ofBrunswick,Brunswick East,Carlton North,Fitzroy North,Princes Hill and parts ofBrunswick West. It lies within theNorthern Metropolitan Region of the upper house, theLegislative Council.[1]
Historically a very safe seat for theLabor Party, Brunswick has in recent elections seen an increase in support for theGreens, who won the seat in2018[1][2] and retained it at the2022 election.
The seat has had three periods of existence. The seat was first formed in 1904 and abolished in 1955, recreated in 1976 and abolished again in 1992, and again re-established in 2002. Prior to 2018, the seat was always held by Labor, apart from two months in 1955 when incumbent MPPeter Randles defected to theAustralian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) in theAustralian Labor Party split of 1955.
Brunswick was first won in 1904 by Labor candidateFrank Anstey.[3] Anstey resigned to enter federal politics in 1910, forcing aby-election which was won by former Brunswick mayorJames Jewell. Jewell was member for Brunswick for 39 years, and served for 25 years as either Government or OppositionWhip. Jewell died in office in 1949,[4] necessitating aby-election, which was won for Labor byPeter Randles.[5] Randles resigned from the Labor Party and joined the new Australian Labor Party (Anti-Communist) in the 1955 Labor split, but Brunswick was abolished that year and he contested and lost the new seat ofBrunswick West.
The Brunswick seat was re-established in 1976, and was won byTom Roper, the Labor member for abolished Brunswick West, who would hold it until it was abolished again in 1992. Roper held a number of prominent ministries in theCain government, including Minister for Health (1982–1985), Minister for Transport (1985–1987) and Minister for Planning and Environment (1987–1990), and was then promoted toTreasurer in theKirner Ministry (1990–1992). Upon the abolition of Brunswick, Roper contested and won the adjacent seat ofCoburg at the1992 election.[1][6]
In 2002, Brunswick was re-created for a third time, and was won byCarlo Carli, who had succeeded Roper as member for Coburg; Carli represented Brunswick until his retirement at the2010 state election.[7]City of Yarra mayorJane Garrett held the seat for Labor despite a high-profile campaign by the Victorian Greens, who received a significant swing in their favour. Garrett retained the seat in 2014 in the face of a similarly strong campaign. Labor won government underDaniel Andrews at the 2014 election, and Garrett was promoted into the newAndrews Ministry as Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming and Liquor Regulation and Minister for Emergency Services.[8][9][10]
In 2018, Garrett decided to contest the State Legislative Council, leaving the seat open. Greens candidateTim Read won the election after failing to win in 2014. This was the first time that the party held the seat, with a post election margin of 0.6%. This margin was increased to 13.5% in the2022 election, making it the safest Greens-held seat at either state or federal level in Australia.
| First incarnation (1904–1955) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Frank Anstey | Labour | 1904–1910 | |
| James Jewell | Labor | 1910–1949 | |
| Peter Randles | Labor | 1949–1955 | |
| Labor (A-C) | 1955 | ||
| Second incarnation (1976–1992) | |||
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Tom Roper | Labor | 1976–1992 | |
| Third incarnation (2002–present) | |||
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Carlo Carli | Labor | 2002–2010 | |
| Jane Garrett | Labor | 2010–2018 | |
| Tim Read | Greens | 2018–present | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greens | Tim Read | 18,959 | 43.6 | +1.2 | |
| Labor | Mike Williams | 12,392 | 28.5 | −9.4 | |
| Liberal | Minh Quan Nguyen | 4,723 | 10.9 | +2.6 | |
| Victorian Socialists | Nahui Jimenez | 3,506 | 8.1 | +8.1 | |
| Reason | Shea Evans | 1,933 | 4.4 | −0.3 | |
| Animal Justice | Rachel Lamarche-Beauchesne | 699 | 1.6 | −0.5 | |
| Independent | Anthony Helou | 551 | 1.3 | +1.3 | |
| Family First | Lilian Sabry Shaker | 529 | 1.2 | +1.2 | |
| Independent | Kenneth Charles Taylor | 153 | 0.4 | +0.4 | |
| Total formal votes | 43,445 | 96.2 | +2.0 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,733 | 3.8 | −2.0 | ||
| Turnout | 45,178 | 86.4 | −0.9 | ||
| Notionaltwo-party-preferred count | |||||
| Labor | Mike Williams | 36,518 | 84.1 | −0.5 | |
| Liberal | Minh Quan Nguyen | 6,927 | 15.9 | +0.5 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Greens | Tim Read | 27,664 | 63.7 | +11.7 | |
| Labor | Mike Williams | 15,781 | 36.3 | −11.7 | |
| Greenshold | Swing | +11.7 | |||