Division of Indi

The Division of Indi (pronounced /ˈɪndaɪ/) is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division is located in the north-east of the state, adjoining the border with New South Wales. The largest settlements in the division are the regional cities of Wodonga, Wangaratta, and Benalla. Other towns in the electorate include Rutherglen, Mansfield, Beechworth, Myrtleford, Bright, Alexandra, Tallangatta, Corryong and a number of other small villages (notably including the ski resort of Falls Creek). While Indi is one of the largest electorates in Victoria, much of it is located within the largely uninhabited Australian Alps. While Wodonga serves as a regional hub for much of the more heavily populated northern part of the electorate, the southern part is closer to Melbourne than Wodonga.

Indi
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Indi in Victoria, as of the 2019 federal election.
Created1901
MPHelen Haines
PartyIndependent
NamesakeMurray River (Aboriginal name)
Electors112,809 (2019)
Area29,187 km2 (11,269.2 sq mi)
DemographicRural

The current member for Indi, since the 2019 federal election, is independent Helen Haines.

History
The Murray River, the Aboriginal name of which is the division's namesake

Indi has existed continuously since Federation. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. The most nationally prominent person to represent Indi to date was the first, Sir Isaac Isaacs, who rose to become Attorney-General of Australia, Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, and the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia. Another member for Indi, John "Black Jack" McEwen, was a long-serving Minister and was briefly Prime Minister of Australia after the death of Harold Holt in 1967, but he was member for Murray by then. Indi has been held by a member of a conservative party (either the Liberal Party and its predecessors or the National Party) or a conservative independent for all but four terms since Federation, and without interruption since 1931. Labor last won the seat in 1928 when the Country incumbent forgot to renominate, and retained it in 1929.[1] Since 2004, the Liberal primary vote has been in decline, falling from 63% in 2004,[2] to 54% in 2007,[3] 53% in 2010,[4] 44% in 2013 and 27% in 2016.

At the 2013 election, independent Cathy McGowan unseated Liberal Party incumbent Sophie Mirabella, the only incumbent Liberal MP to lose his or her seat at the 2013 election. This was considered a major upset; Mirabella had gone into the election sitting on a margin of 59 percent, on the stronger side of fairly safe. Indeed, in a "traditional" two-party matchup, Mirabella would have retained the seat with a small swing in her favour against Labor.

McGowan retained Indi against Mirabella at the 2016 election with an increased 54.8% (+4.6) two-candidate-preferred vote. The Liberal "traditional" two-party-preferred vote was reduced to 54.4% (–4.7) against Labor's 45.6% (+4.7), a marginal two-party result not seen since the 1929 election.

McGowan retired in 2019 and was succeeded by fellow independent Haines, who suffered a swing of four percent against the Liberals from McGowan's 2016 vote and was elected on Labor preferences.[5]

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Isaac Isaacs
(1855–1948)		 Protectionist 29 March 1901 –
12 October 1906		 Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Bogong. Served as minister under Deakin. Resigned in order to become a Justice of the High Court
  Joseph Brown
(1844–1925)		 Anti-Socialist 12 December 1906 –
26 May 1909		 Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Shepparton and Euroa. Lost seat
  Commonwealth Liberal 26 May 1909 –
13 April 1910
  Parker Moloney
(1879–1961)		 Labor 13 April 1910 –
31 May 1913		 Lost seat
  Cornelius Ahern
(1871–1955)		 Commonwealth Liberal 31 May 1913 –
5 September 1914		 Lost seat
  Parker Moloney
(1879–1961)		 Labor 5 September 1914 –
5 May 1917		 Lost seat. Later elected to the division of Hume in 1919
  John Leckie
(1872–1947)		 Nationalist 5 May 1917 –
13 December 1919		 Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Benambra. Lost seat. Later elected to the Senate in 1934
  Robert Cook
(1867–1930)		 Victorian Farmers' Union 13 December 1919 –
22 January 1920		 Did not contest in 1928 after mistakenly failing to lodge renomination papers in time
  Country 22 January 1920 –
9 October 1928
  Paul Jones
(1878–1972)		 Labor 17 November 1928 –
19 December 1931		 Lost seat. Later elected to the Victorian Legislative Council in 1937
  William Hutchinson
(1904–1967)		 United Australia 19 December 1931 –
23 October 1937		 Transferred to the Division of Deakin
  John McEwen
(1900–1980)		 Country 23 October 1937 –
10 December 1949		 Previously held the Division of Echuca. Served as minister under Lyons, Page, Menzies and Fadden. Transferred to the Division of Murray
  William Bostock
(1892–1968)		 Liberal 10 December 1949 –
22 November 1958		 Lost seat
  Mac Holten
(1922–1996)		 Country 22 November 1958 –
2 May 1975		 Served as minister under Gorton and McMahon. Lost seat
  National Country 2 May 1975 –
10 December 1977
  Ewen Cameron
(1930–)		 Liberal 10 December 1977 –
8 February 1993		 Retired
  Lou Lieberman
(1938–)		 Liberal 13 March 1993 –
8 October 2001		 Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Benambra. Retired
  Sophie Mirabella
(1968–)		 Liberal 10 November 2001 –
7 September 2013		 Lost seat
  Cathy McGowan
(1953–)		 Independent 7 September 2013 –
11 April 2019		 Retired
  Helen Haines
(1961–)		 Independent 18 May 2019 –
present		 Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Indi
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Victoria § Indi[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Indi[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Steve Martin 35,426 35.09 +7.29
Independent Helen Haines 32,664 32.35 −1.06
Labor Eric Kerr 12,202 12.09 +2.03
National Mark Byatt 9,538 9.45 −8.30
Greens Helen Robinson 4,255 4.21 +0.25
United Australia Shane Wheatland 3,980 3.94 +3.94
Justice Jason Whalley 2,891 2.86 +2.86
Total formal votes 100,956 95.64 +2.21
Informal votes 4,601 4.36 −2.21
Turnout 105,557 93.60 +0.13
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Steve Martin 63,332 62.73 +7.72
Labor Eric Kerr 37,624 37.27 −7.72
Two-candidate-preferred result
Independent Helen Haines 51,886 51.39 −4.13
Liberal Steve Martin 49,070 48.61 +4.13
Independent hold Swing−4.13

References
  1. "2010 Federal Election Results – Indi". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 2010.
  2. "House of Representatives: Indi". Election 2004. Australian Electoral Commission. 2005.
  3. "House of Representatives: Indi". Election 2007: Virtual Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. 2007.
  4. "House of Representatives: Indi". Election 2010: Virtual Tally Room. Australian Electoral Commission. 2010.
  5. http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/2019/2019repsvic.txt
  6. Indi, VIC, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

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