Electoral district of Benalla

Benalla was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. The electorate covered a rural area of 17,120 km², and included the towns of Benalla, Bright, Eildon, Euroa, Mansfield, Mount Beauty, Murchison, Myrtleford, Nagambie and Violet Town. The electorate had a population of 47,675 as of the 2006 census, with 36,987 enrolled electors in the 2010 state election.

Benalla
VictoriaLegislative Assembly
StateVictoria
Created1904
Abolished2014
Electors36,987 (2010)
Area17,120 km2 (6,610.1 sq mi)
DemographicRural

The seat was created in 1904. Historically a staunchly conservative rural district, it was held by conservative members for most of its history. It was held by various early conservative parties throughout the early 20th century, but became safe for the rural conservative National Party, which held the seat for all but nine years from 1920 to 2000.

This trend was briefly and unexpectedly broken in a 2000 by-election caused by the resignation of long-time National Party leader and former Deputy Premier Pat McNamara. In a major upset, Denise Allen became the first Labor member ever to win it. The seat's conservative nature, however, reasserted itself when Bill Sykes regained the seat for the Nationals at the 2002 election despite a landslide Labor victory which devastated the conservative parties across the state.

The seat reverted to form in the 2006 election, and Sykes held it without serious difficulty until his retirement after the 2014 election. Benalla was abolished at the same time, and was largely replaced with Euroa.

Members for Benalla

MemberPartyTerm
  John Carlisle Comm Liberal 1904–1917
  Economy 1917–1918
  Nationalist 1918–1920
  Farmers Union 1920–1920
  Country 1920–1926
  Independent 1926–1927
  Edward Cleary Country Progressive 1927–1930
  Country 1930–1936
  Frederick Cook Independent 1936–1939
  Liberal Country 1939–1943
  Country 1943–1961
  Tom Trewin Country 1961–1975
National Country 1975–1982
  Pat McNamara National 1982–2000
  Denise Allen Labor 2000–2002
  Bill Sykes National 2002–2014

Election results

2010 Victorian state election: Benalla
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Bill Sykes 21,072 63.28 +21.15
Labor Rowena Allen 6,124 18.39 -6.81
Greens Kammy Cordner Hunt 2,756 8.28 +1.18
Country Alliance Rochelle Hunt 2,546 7.65 +7.65
Independent Nicholas Williams 804 2.41 +2.41
Total formal votes 33,302 95.97 -0.50
Informal votes 1,398 4.03 +0.50
Turnout 34,700 93.82 +0.67
Two-party-preferred result
National Bill Sykes 24,354 73.06 +5.55
Labor Rowena Allen 8,978 26.94 -5.55
National hold Swing+5.55
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