# Higinbotham Province

Higinbotham Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council. It existed as a two-member electorate from 1937 to 2006, with members serving alternating eight-year terms. It was considered a safe seat for the Liberal throughout its history, though it was won by Labor candidate Noel Pullen in Labor's landslide victory at the 2002 state election. It was abolished from the 2006 state election in the wake of the Bracks Labor government's reform of the Legislative Council.
It was located in the south-east of Melbourne. In 2002, when it was last contested, it covered an area of 108 km$^2$ and included the suburbs of Bentleigh, Black Rock, Brighton, Cheltenham, Mentone, Moorabbin, Mordialloc and Sandringham.

## Members for Higinbotham Province

| Member 1 | Party | Year |
| James Kennedy | United Australia | 1937 | Member 2 | Member 2 | Party |
| James Kennedy | United Australia | 1940 | | James Disney | United Australia |
| James Kennedy | United Australia | 1943 | | James Disney | United Australia |
| James Kennedy | Liberal | 1945 | | James Disney | Liberal |
| James Kennedy | Liberal | 1946 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal |
| James Kennedy | Liberal and Country | 1949 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal and Country |
| James Kennedy | Liberal and Country | 1949 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal and Country |
| James Kennedy | Liberal and Country | 1952 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal and Country |
| Lindsay Thompson | Liberal and Country | 1954 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal and Country |
| Lindsay Thompson | Liberal and Country | 1955 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal and Country |
| Lindsay Thompson | Liberal and Country | 1958 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal and Country |
| Lindsay Thompson | Liberal and Country | 1961 | | Arthur Warner | Liberal and Country |
| Lindsay Thompson | Liberal and Country | 1964 | | Baron Snider | Liberal and Country |
| Lindsay Thompson | Liberal | 1965 | | Baron Snider | Liberal |
| Lindsay Thompson | Liberal | 1967 | | Murray Hamilton | Liberal |
| William Fry | Liberal | 1967 | | Murray Hamilton | Liberal |
| William Fry | Liberal | 1970 | | Murray Hamilton | Liberal |
| William Fry | Liberal | 1973 | | Murray Hamilton | Liberal |
| William Fry | Liberal | 1976 | | Murray Hamilton | Liberal |
| Robert Lawson | Liberal | 1979 | | Murray Hamilton | Liberal |
| Robert Lawson | Liberal | 1982 | | Geoffrey Connard | Liberal |
| Robert Lawson | Liberal | 1985 | | Geoffrey Connard | Liberal |
| Robert Lawson | Liberal | 1988 | | Geoffrey Connard | Liberal |
| Chris Strong | Liberal | 1992 | | Geoffrey Connard | Liberal |
| Chris Strong | Liberal | 1996 | | John Ross | Liberal |
| Chris Strong | Liberal | 1999 | | John Ross | Liberal |
| Chris Strong | Liberal | 2002 | | Noel Pullen | Labor |

## Election results

2002 Victorian state election: Higinbotham Province :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Michael Heffernan | 60,580 | 45.7 | -10.1 |
| | Labor | Noel Pullen | 52,445 | 39.6 | +36.9 |
| | Greens | Tony McDermott | 16,451 | 12.4 | +12.4 |
| | Democrats | Derek Wilson | 2,952 | 2.2 | -39.1 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 132,428 | 97.2 | +0.3 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 3,845 | 2.8 | −0.3 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 136,273 | 92.7 | |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Labor | Noel Pullen | 66,711 | 50.4 | +6.5 |
| | Liberal | Michael Heffernan | 65,717 | 49.6 | -6.5 |
| | Labor gain from Liberal | Labor gain from Liberal | Swing | +6.5 | |