Division of Batman

Batman Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Batman (green) in Melbourne, Victoria
Created	1906
Abolished	2019
Namesake	John Batman
Electors	108,935 (2016)
Area	66 km2 (25.5 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner metropolitan
Coordinates	37.733°S 145.014°E / -37.733; 145.014

The Division of Batman was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It took its name from John Batman, one of the founders of the city of Melbourne. The division was created in 1906, replacing the Division of Northern Melbourne, and was abolished in 2019 and replaced by the Division of Cooper.

The division was located in Melbourne's northern suburbs. It covered an area of approximately 66 square kilometres (25 sq mi) from Thomastown/Bundoora in the north to Clifton Hill in the south, with Merri Creek providing the vast majority of the western boundary and Darebin Creek, parts of Macleod and Plenty Road in Bundoora providing the eastern boundary. The suburbs of Alphington, Clifton Hill, Fairfield, Kingsbury, Northcote, Preston, Reservoir, and Thornbury; and parts of Bundoora, Coburg North, Macleod, and Thomastown were in this division.

Held by Labor for all but 10 years of its history, Batman traditionally had been a safe Labor seat. However, the Greens made the seat a contest beginning with the 2010 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% in 2013, the Greens reduced Labor's margin to just 1.0% in 2016. At the 2018 Batman by-election however, Labor increased their margin to 4.4% against the Greens.

In June 2018, the Australian Electoral Commission announced that, at the 2019 Australian federal election, the division would be re-named Cooper, after Aboriginal community leader and activist William Cooper.

History

John Batman, the division's namesake

When it was created it covered the inner suburbs of Carlton and Fitzroy, but successive boundary changes moved it steadily northwards, ending with it including Northcote, 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 by Brian Howe from 1977 to 1996, a senior minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, and also Deputy Prime Minister 1991–95. Howe was succeeded at the 1996 election by Martin Ferguson, moving to Parliament after six years as President of the ACTU. Ferguson served as a senior Labor frontbencher, and a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments, before resigning from the ministry in March 2013 after the failed challenge to Gillard's leadership. He was succeeded at the 2013 election by former Senator David Feeney, who had been a parliamentary secretary in the Rudd and Gillard governments.

In 2018, as a result of the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, Feeney resigned and decided not to seek pre-selection to run at the ensuing by-election. The 2018 Batman by-election held on 17 March saw the election of Labor's Ged Kearney.

Members

	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 the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Jika Jika. Died in office
		Frank Brennan (1873–1950)		8 February 1911 – 19 December 1931	Served as minister under Scullin. 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 – August 1966	Retired
			Independent	August 1966 – 29 September 1969
		Horrie Garrick (1918–1982)	Labor	25 October 1969 – 10 November 1977	Lost preselection and retired
		Brian Howe (1936–)		10 December 1977 – 2 March 1996	Served as minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Hawke and Keating. Retired
		Martin Ferguson (1953–)		2 March 1996 – 5 August 2013	Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired
		David Feeney (1970–)		7 September 2013 – 1 February 2018	Previously a member of the Senate. Election results declared void due to dual citizenship. Did not contest subsequent by-election
		Ged Kearney (1963–)		17 March 2018 – 11 April 2019	Transferred to the Division of Cooper after Batman was abolished in 2019

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Batman

This section is an excerpt from 2018 Batman by-election § Results.[edit]

2018 Batman by-election

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
	Labor hold		Swing	+3.35

Alluvial diagram of the full preference distribution

External links

• Division of Batman – Australian Electoral Commission