# Division of Jagajaga

The Division of Jagajaga is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It is located in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, and lies north of the Yarra River. It covers an area of approximately 137 square kilometres and comprises the suburbs of Bellfield, Briar Hill, Eaglemont, Eltham, Eltham North, Greensborough, Heidelberg, Heidelberg Heights, Heidelberg West, Ivanhoe, Ivanhoe East, Lower Plenty, Montmorency, North Warrandyte, Plenty, Rosanna, St Helena, Viewbank, Yallambie, Watsonia and Watsonia North; the township of Kangaroo Ground; and parts of Bundoora and Macleod.
The area is predominantly residential and light industrial, and includes the Australian Army's Simpson Barracks, the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, the Mercy Hospital for Women and the Austin Hospital.
Most of the City of Banyule and parts of the Shire of Nillumbik and City of Whittlesea local government areas are contained within the Division's boundaries. Four Legislative Assembly Districts are represented in the Division, namely Ivanhoe, Eltham, Bundoora, and Eildon. The Legislative Council Regions of North-Eastern Metropolitan and Northern Victoria are also represented.

## Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions 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

The Division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 14 September 1984, and was first contested at the 1984 election. The division replaced the western half of the abolished Division of Diamond Valley, with the eastern half becoming the Division of Menzies. It was named after three Wurundjeri Aboriginal Australian men who supposedly made the Batman Treaty with the party of early colonial settler and one of the founders of Melbourne, John Batman in 1835.
The Division has always been a marginal-to-safe Labor seat. It was first held by Peter Staples, who served as a minister under Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. Staples retired in 1996 and was replaced by Jenny Macklin, who has held the seat prior to her retirement in 2018. Macklin served as Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party under Simon Crean, Mark Latham and Kim Beazley, as well as a minister under Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. In 2018, Macklin announced her retirement from politics. Kate Thwaites replaced Macklin as Labor's candidate for the area and subsequently won the seat in the 2019 Australian federal election.

## Members

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| Peter Staples (1947–) | Labor | 1 December 1984 – 29 January 1996 | Previously held the Division of Diamond Valley. Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Retired |
| Jenny Macklin (1953–) | Labor | 2 March 1996 – 11 April 2019 | Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired. |
| Kate Thwaites (1980–) | Labor | 18 May 2019 – present | Incumbent |

## Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Jagajaga :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Kate Thwaites | 41,412 | 40.90 | +0.00 |
| | Liberal | Sahil Tomar | 29,535 | 29.17 | −10.04 |
| | Greens | Liz Chase | 16,855 | 16.65 | +2.26 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Maya Tesa | 3,760 | 3.71 | +3.71 |
| | United Australia | Allison Zelinka | 3,493 | 3.45 | −0.04 |
| | Independent | Zahra Mustaf | 3,150 | 3.11 | +3.11 |
| | One Nation | John Booker | 2,274 | 2.25 | +2.25 |
| | Federation | Brendan Palmarini | 764 | 0.75 | +0.75 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 101,243 | 96.20 | −0.74 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 4,003 | 3.80 | +0.74 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 105,246 | 93.00 | −2.26 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Labor | Kate Thwaites | 63,122 | 62.35 | +6.46 |
| | Liberal | Sahil Tomar | 38,121 | 37.65 | −6.46 |
| | Labor hold | Labor hold | Swing | +6.46 | |

### Opinion polling for the 2025 Australian federal election in Jagajaga

| Date | Firm | Sample size | Margin of error | Primary vote | Primary vote | Primary vote | Primary vote | Primary vote | 2PP vote | 2PP vote |
| Date | Firm | Sample size | Margin of error | L/NP | ALP | GRN | IND | OTH | L/NP | ALP |
| 29 Oct 2024 - 20 Nov 2024 | Accent Research/RedBridge Group | — | ±4.0% | 37% | 41% | 12% | — | 10% | 44% | 56% |
| 10 July – 27 August 2024 | Accent Research/RedBridge Group | — | ±3.5% | 35% | 40% | 16% | — | 9% | 41% | 59% |
| Feb 2024 - May 2024 | RedBridge Group | — | ±3.3% | 33% | 39% | 18% | — | 10% | 39% | 61% |
| 21 May 2022 | 2022 Federal Election | 2022 Federal Election | 2022 Federal Election | 29.2% | 40.9% | 16.7% | 3.1% | 10.1% | 37.6% | 62.4% |