| Polwarth Victoria—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
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_2022.svg) Location of Polwarth (dark green) in Victoria | |||||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||||
| Created | 1889 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Richard Riordan | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Liberal | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | County of Polwarth | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 45,895 (2018) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 8,860 km2 (3,420.9 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural | ||||||||||||||
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The electoral district of Polwarth is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is located in south-west rural Victoria, west of Geelong, and covers the Colac and Corangamite local government areas (LGA), parts of the Moyne, Golden Plains and Surf Coast LGAs, and slivers of the Ararat and Greater Geelong LGAs, running along the Great Ocean Road taking in Anglesea, Cape Otway, Peterborough, Aireys Inlet, Lorne, Wye River, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, covering the inland towns of Winchelsea, Colac, Camperdown and Terang along the Princes Highway, and Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore and Mortlake on the Hamilton Highway, and finally, includes the Otway Ranges and Lake Corangamite.[1]
The seat has existed since 1889 and has always been held by conservative parties. The Liberal Party has held the seat continuously since 1970, although the Nationals have provided strong challenges on occasions, such as at the 1999 election when election night figures suggested retired AFL Footballer Paul Couch would win the seat.[2] Ultimately, however, Couch failed to finish ahead of the Labor Party candidate and the Liberal candidate, Terry Mulder, won after receiving preferences from Couch.[3]
The 2014 Victorian election saw the Liberal Terry Mulder retain his seat,[4] with a 3.2% swing to Labor.[5] Mulder resigned from parliament on 3 September 2015. The subsequent by-election, held on 31 October, saw Richard Riordan elected as the new member.
- ^ "Victorian Electoral Commission". Polworth District Profile. Retrieved 12 February 2015.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Polwarth". ABC News Online. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 18 September 1999. Archived from the original on 18 January 2000. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- ^ "State Election 1999: Polwarth District". Victorian Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 12 September 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
- ^ "Victorian Electoral Commission". State Election 2014 : Polwarth District. Archived from the original on 25 February 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
- ^ "ABC Victoria Votes". Victoria Votes. 12 December 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2015.