# Division of Flinders

The Division of Flinders is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. The division is one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named after Matthew Flinders, the first man to circumnavigate Australia, and the person credited with giving Australia its name.
Originally a country seat south and east of Melbourne, Flinders is now based on the outer southern suburbs on the Mornington Peninsula, including Dromana, Hastings and Portsea. Even though Melbourne's suburban growth has long since spilled onto the peninsula, Flinders is still counted as a rural seat.
As of 2022, Flinders is the Liberal Party's only safe seat in Melbourne.

## Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at re-distributions by a re-distribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Re-distributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.

## History

It has usually been a fairly safe seat for the Liberal Party and its predecessors, who have held it for all but six years since its creation. However, it has occasionally been won by the Australian Labor Party, notably at the 1929 federal election when Prime Minister Stanley Bruce was defeated. This was the first of two times an incumbent Australian prime minister lost his own seat at a general election; the second time was not until Liberal Prime Minister John Howard lost his seat of Bennelong at the 2007 federal election.
The seat's most prominent member was Bruce, who held it for all but two years from 1918 to 1933. Other prominent former members include Jack Holloway, the Labor challenger who ousted Bruce and later a senior minister in the Curtin and Chifley governments (though he was the member for Melbourne Ports by then) and two deputy Liberal leaders – Sir Phillip Lynch (a minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments) and Peter Reith (a minister in the Howard government).

## Members

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| Arthur Groom (1852–1922) | Free Trade | 29 March 1901 – 23 November 1903 | Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Gippsland West. Retired |
| James Gibb (1843–1919) | Free Trade | 16 December 1903 – 1906 | Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Mornington. Did not contest in 1906. Failed to win the Division of Hume |
| James Gibb (1843–1919) | Anti-Socialist | 1906 – 12 December 1906 | Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Mornington. Did not contest in 1906. Failed to win the Division of Hume |
| Sir William Irvine (1858–1943) | Anti-Socialist | 12 December 1906 – 26 May 1909 | Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Lowan. Served as minister under Cook. Resigned to become Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court |
| Sir William Irvine (1858–1943) | Liberal | 26 May 1909 – 17 February 1917 | Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Lowan. Served as minister under Cook. Resigned to become Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court |
| Sir William Irvine (1858–1943) | Nationalist | 17 February 1917 – 5 April 1918 | Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Lowan. Served as minister under Cook. Resigned to become Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court |
| Stanley Bruce (1883–1967) | Nationalist | 11 May 1918 – 12 October 1929 | Served as minister under Hughes. Served as Prime Minister from 1923 to 1929. Lost seat |
| Jack Holloway (1875–1967) | Labor | 12 October 1929 – 19 December 1931 | Transferred to the Division of Melbourne Ports |
| Stanley Bruce (1883–1967) | United Australia | 19 December 1931 – 6 October 1933 | Served as minister under Lyons. Resigned to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom |
| James Fairbairn (1897–1940) | United Australia | 11 November 1933 – 13 August 1940 | Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Warrnambool. Served as minister under Menzies. Died in office. |
| Rupert Ryan (1884–1952) | United Australia | 21 September 1940 – 21 February 1945 | Died in office |
| Rupert Ryan (1884–1952) | Liberal | 21 February 1945 – 25 August 1952 | Died in office |
| Keith Ewert (1918–1989) | Labor | 18 October 1952 – 29 May 1954 | Lost seat |
| Robert Lindsay (1905–2000) | Liberal | 29 May 1954 – 31 October 1966 | Retired |
| Sir Phillip Lynch (1933–1984) | Liberal | 26 November 1966 – 22 October 1982 | Served as minister under Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Resigned due to ill health |
| Peter Reith (1950–2022) | Liberal | 4 December 1982 – 5 March 1983 | Lost seat |
| Bob Chynoweth (1941–) | Labor | 5 March 1983 – 1 December 1984 | Transferred to the Division of Dunkley |
| Peter Reith (1950–2022) | Liberal | 1 December 1984 – 8 October 2001 | Served as minister under Howard. Retired |
| Greg Hunt (1965–) | Liberal | 10 November 2001 – 11 April 2022 | Served as minister under Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison. Retired |
| Zoe McKenzie (1972–) | Liberal | 21 May 2022 – present | Incumbent |

## Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Flinders :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Zoe McKenzie | 43,013 | 43.49 | −3.23 |
| | Labor | Surbhi Snowball | 21,487 | 21.73 | −3.01 |
| | Greens | Colin Lane | 9,293 | 9.40 | +2.59 |
| | Independent | Despi O'Connor | 7,163 | 7.24 | +7.24 |
| | Independent | Sarah Russell | 5,189 | 5.25 | +5.25 |
| | United Australia | Alex van der End | 4,472 | 4.52 | +2.00 |
| | One Nation | Cyndi Marr | 3,373 | 3.41 | +3.41 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Chrysten Abraham | 2,366 | 2.39 | +2.39 |
| | Animal Justice | Pamela Engelander | 2,060 | 2.08 | −0.30 |
| | Federation | Jefferson Earl | 486 | 0.49 | +0.49 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 98,902 | 94.56 | +0.50 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 5,687 | 5.44 | −0.50 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 104,589 | 91.41 | −1.82 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Liberal | Zoe McKenzie | 56,075 | 56.70 | +1.06 |
| | Labor | Surbhi Snowball | 42,827 | 43.30 | −1.06 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | +1.06 | |