The Molonglo electorate was one of the three electorates for the unicameral 17-member Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly between 1995 and 2016. It had seven seats, and was the largest of the three electorates in terms of population.

Location of the electorate in the Canberra region

History edit

Molonglo was created in 1995, when the three-electorate, Hare-Clark electoral system was first introduced for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). Prior to 1995, a multi-member single constituency existed for the whole of the ACT. The name "Molonglo" is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning "like the sound of thunder". It is the name of the river that flows through the central electorate, which was dammed to form Lake Burley Griffin, one of the focal points of Canberra and of the central electorate.[1]

Location edit

The Molonglo electorate consisted of the town centres of North Canberra, South Canberra, Weston Creek, and Woden (except for the suburbs of Chifley, Pearce and Torrens), and Gungahlin (except for the suburb of Nicholls). It also includes the parts of the ACT to the north and east of Canberra. Its western boundary was the Murrumbidgee River.

Molonglo was abolished in 2016, with its constituents transferred between each of three new electorates: Kurrajong, and parts of Murrumbidgee and Yerrabi.

Members edit

Year Member Party Member Party Member Party Member Party Member Party Member Party Member Party
1995   Rosemary Follett Labor   Terry Connolly Labor   Michael Moore Independent   Kerrie Tucker Greens   Kate Carnell Liberal   Gary Humphries Liberal   Greg Cornwell Liberal
19961,2   Simon Corbell Labor   Marion Reilly Labor
1998   Ted Quinlan Labor
20013   Jacqui Burke Liberal
2001   Katy Gallagher Labor   Helen Cross Liberal
20034,5   Independent   Jacqui Burke Liberal
2004   Deb Foskey Greens   Richard Mulcahy Liberal   Zed Seselja Liberal
20066   Andrew Barr Labor
20077   Independent
2008   Shane Rattenbury Greens   Caroline Le Couteur Greens   Jeremy Hanson Liberal
2012   Steve Doszpot Liberal   Giulia Jones Liberal
20158   Meegan Fitzharris Labor
1 Rosemary Follett (Labor) resigned on 12 December 1996. Simon Corbell (Labor) was elected as her replacement on a countback and was sworn in on 18 February 1997.[2]
2 Terry Connolly (Labor) resigned on 19 February 1996. Marion Reilly (Labor) was elected as his replacement on a countback and was sworn in on 26 March 1996.[2]
3 Kate Carnell (Liberal) resigned on 17 October 2000. Jacqui Burke (Liberal) was elected as her replacement on a countback and sworn in on 13 February 2001.[2]
4 Gary Humphries (Liberal) resigned on 25 November 2002 to take up the position in the Australian Senate that had been vacated by Margaret Reid. Jacqui Burke (Liberal) was elected as his replacement on a countback and sworn in on 18 February 2003.[2]
5 Helen Cross resigned from the Liberal Party on 23 September 2003 and remained in the Assembly as an independent.[2]
6 Ted Quinlan (Labor) resigned on 21 March 2006. Andrew Barr (Labor) was elected as his replacement on a countback on 3 April 2006.[2]
7 Richard Mulcahy was expelled from the Liberal Party Room and subsequently resigned from the Liberal Party on 10 December 2007. Mulcahy indicated he would continue to sit as an Independent.[2]
8 Katy Gallagher resigned from the ACT Legislative Assembly on 23 December 2014 to take up a position in the Australian Senate. Meegan Fitzharris was elected as her replacement on a countback on 15 January 2015.[3]

Election results edit

2012 Australian Capital Territory general election: Molonglo[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Quota 11,442
Labor Katy Gallagher (elected 1) 23,996 26.2 +10.4
Labor Andrew Barr (elected 3) 3,880 4.2 −2.0
Labor Meegan Fitzharris 2,626 2.9 +2.9
Labor Simon Corbell (elected 4) 1,909 2.1 −3.1
Labor Mark Kulasingham 1,749 1.9 +1.9
Labor David Mathews 1,408 1.5 −0.8
Labor Angie Drake 1,404 1.5 +1.5
Liberal Jeremy Hanson (elected 2) 10,235 11.2 +7.5
Liberal Giulia Jones (elected 6) 5,754 6.3 +3.7
Liberal Steve Doszpot (elected 7) 5,245 5.7 +5.7
Liberal Elizabeth Lee 4,459 4.9 +4.9
Liberal Tom Sefton 3,834 4.2 +4.2
Liberal James Milligan 2,984 3.3 +3.3
Liberal Murray Gordon 1,750 1.9 +1.9
Greens Shane Rattenbury (elected 5) 4,966 5.4 −5.4
Greens Caroline Le Couteur 4,531 5.0 +1.2
Greens Adriana Siddle 1,395 1.5 +1.5
Greens Alan Kerlin 1,173 1.3 +1.3
Bullet Train Tim Bohm 2,218 2.4 +2.4
Bullet Train Shelley Dickerson 1,893 2.1 +2.1
Motorist David Cumbers 975 1.1 +0.5
Motorist Mark Curran 922 1.0 +1.0
Liberal Democrats Ian Gardner 610 0.7 +0.7
Liberal Democrats Trisha Jha 517 0.6 +0.6
Independent Philip Pocock 651 0.7 +0.7
Stuart Biggs 450 0.5 +0.5
Total formal votes 91,534 97.1 +0.5
Informal votes 2,753 2.9 −0.5
Turnout 94,287 87.1 −1.0
Party total votes
Labor 36,972 40.4 +4.3
Liberal 34,261 37.4 +5.9
Greens 12,065 13.2 −5.0
Bullet Train 4,111 4.5 +4.5
Motorist 1,897 2.1 –0.7
Liberal Democrats 1,127 1.2 +0.3
Independent Philip Pocock 651 0.7 +0.9
Stuart Biggs 450 0.5 +0.5

See also edit

External links edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Electorates 2008 election". ACT Electoral Commission. 2008. Archived from the original on 14 September 2009. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Members of the ACT Legislative Assembly" (PDF). ACT Legislative Assembly. 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
  3. ^ "Casual vacancies in the eighth Legislative Assembly (2012-2016)". Australian Capital Territory Electoral Commission. 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  4. ^ "2012 Results for Molonglo Electorate". ACT Electoral Commission. Retrieved 21 January 2015.