Electoral district of Prahran

Prahran is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It was created by the Electoral Act Amendment Act 1888,[1] taking effect at the 1889 elections. It is the state's smallest electorate of 12 km² (4.6 sq.ml) in the inner south-east of Melbourne, taking in the suburbs of South Yarra, Prahran and Windsor, as well as parts of Balaclava, St Kilda, St Kilda East and Toorak (west of Orrong Rd). The electorate had a population of 54,141 at the 2001 census.

Prahran Victoria—Legislative Assembly
Location of Prahran (dark green) in Greater Melbourne
State	Victoria
Created	1889
MP	Sam Hibbins
Party	Greens
Electors	50,373 (2018)
Area	12 km^2 (4.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner metropolitan

Prahran has tended to be a marginal seat throughout its existence, repeatedly changing between the Labor Party and its successive conservative rivals. It has not, however, been a bellwether seat, as the changes of party control have often not coincided with changes of government. Since the 1980s, the electorate has become gradually more conservative as a result of increasing gentrification in the inner suburbs, resulting in seventeen years of Liberal control from 1985 until 2002. This trend was broken in the 2002 election, which saw popular local member and shadow minister Leonie Burke defeated by Labor rising star Tony Lupton on an unexpectedly large swing.

The seat was strongly targeted by the Liberal Party during the 2006 election, with high-profile barrister Clem Newton-Brown narrowly preselected as their candidate after a tight contest. Though Newton-Brown ran a thorough campaign, he was not successful. Following his success in the 2006 election, Tony Lupton was promoted to the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Industry and Innovation. Newton-Brown stood again at the 2010 election and was this time successful. He contested the 2014 election but lost to Sam Hibbins of the Greens who came third on primary votes but was able to overtake Labor with the help of Animal Justice Party preferences after which the vast bulk of Labor preferences flowed to the Greens enabling Hibbins to clinch the seat from Newton-Brown. Along with the seat of Melbourne it was the first win for the Greens in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.

As of the 2018 election, it is considered a safe Greens seat, having recorded a swing of 7.1% to the Greens on a 2-candidate-preferred basis.

List of members for Prahran

Member		Party	Term
	Edward Dixon	Unaligned	1889–1894
	Frederick Gray	Labor	1894–1900
	Donald Mackinnon	Liberal	1900–1920
	Alexander Parker	Labor	1920–1921
	Richard Fetherston	Nationalist	1921–1924
	Arthur Jackson	Labor	1924–1932
	John Ellis	United Australia	1932–1944
		Liberal	1944–1945
	Bill Quirk	Labor	1945–1948
	Frank Crean	Labor	1949–1951
	Robert Pettiona	Labor	1951–1955
	Sam Loxton	Liberal	1955–1979
	Bob Miller	Labor	1979–1985
	Don Hayward	Liberal	1985–1996
	Leonie Burke	Liberal	1996–2002
	Tony Lupton	Labor	2002–2010
	Clem Newton-Brown	Liberal	2010–2014
	Sam Hibbins	Greens	2014–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Prahran

2018 Victorian state election: Prahran[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Katie Allen	13,956	34.53	−10.29
	Labor	Neil Pharaoh	11,702	28.95	+3.04
	Greens	Sam Hibbins	11,347	28.07	+3.32
	Democratic Labour	Leon Kofmansky	933	2.31	+2.31
	Animal Justice	Jennifer Long	900	2.23	−0.04
	Reason	Tom Tomlin	830	2.05	+2.05
	Sustainable Australia	Dennis Bilic	468	1.16	+1.16
	Aussie Battler	Wendy Patterson	156	0.39	+0.39
	Independent	Alan Menadue	130	0.32	+0.10
Total formal votes			40,422	94.77	−0.12
Informal votes			2,229	5.23	+0.12
Turnout			42,651	84.67	−3.80
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Neil Pharaoh	23,263	57.55	+7.58
	Liberal	Katie Allen	17,159	42.45	−7.58
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Greens	Sam Hibbins	23,224	57.45	+7.08
	Liberal	Katie Allen	17,198	42.55	−7.08
	Greens hold		Swing	+7.08

External links

• District profile from the Victorian Electoral Commission

References

1. "The Electoral Act Amendment Act 1888" (PDF). Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 11 March 2014.
2. State Election 2018: Prahran District, VEC.

• "Re-Member". Parliament of Victoria. Retrieved 12 March 2014.