The Division of Batman is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

. The division was created in 1906 (it was formerly called Northern Melbourne

Division of Northern Melbourne

The Division of Northern Melbourne was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. It was located in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne, and was named accordingly. It included parts of the suburbs of Carlton, North Melbourne and Fitzroy...

), and is named after John Batman

John Batman

John Batman was an Australian grazier, businessman and explorer who is best known for his role in the founding of a settlement which became Melbourne and the colony of Victoria.-Life:...

, one of the founders of the city of Melbourne. When it was created it covered the inner suburbs of Carlton

Carlton, Victoria

Carlton is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Melbourne...

 and Fitzroy

Fitzroy, Victoria

Fitzroy is an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Yarra. Its borders are Alexandra Parade , Victoria Parade , Smith Street and Nicholson Street. Fitzroy is Melbourne's...

, but successive boundary changes have moved it steadily northwards. Today it includes Northcote

Northcote, Victoria

Northcote is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin...

, Preston

Preston, Victoria

Preston is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 9 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin. At the 2006 Census, Preston had a population of 27,892.-Settlement:...

, Reservoir

Reservoir, Victoria

Reservoir is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 12 km north from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Darebin. At the 2006 Census, Reservoir had a population of 45,970....

 and Thornbury

Thornbury, Victoria

Thornbury originalSince the 1960s, the vast majority of Melburnians pronounce the name phonetically. The 'h' is no longer silent, and there is more stress placed upon the 'o'. pronunciation is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 7 km north from Melbourne's central business district....

. On these boundaries it was one of the safest seats in Australia for the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, however at the 2010 election the Greens overtook the Liberals on preferences and came second against Labor, reducing the seat to a "fairly safe" Labor seat. Its most notable member has been Brian Howe

Brian Howe (politician)

Brian Leslie Howe, AO , Australian politician, was Deputy Prime Minister in the Labor government of Paul Keating from 1991 to 1995....

, who was Deputy Prime Minister in the Hawke

Bob Hawke

Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister....

 and Keating

Paul Keating

Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election...

 governments.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Jabez Coon Jabez Coon Jabez Coon was an Australian politician. Born in Maldon, Victoria, he received a primary education before becoming a goldminer and then a boot merchant in Melbourne. In 1906, he was elected to the Australian House of Representatives as the Protectionist member for the new seat of Batman. He held...	Protectionist Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in...	1906–1909
		Commonwealth Liberal Commonwealth Liberal Party The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation....	1909–1910
	Henry Beard Henry Beard (Australian politician) Henry Elisha Beard was an Australian politician. Born in Victoria, he received a primary education before becoming a bricklayer and railway inspector, as well as a union official. In 1904 he was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly as the Labor member for Jika Jika, holding the seat until...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1910 Australian federal election, 1910 Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 April 1910. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election... –1910
	Frank Brennan Frank Brennan (Australian politician) Francis Brennan was an Australian lawyer and Australian Labor Party politician.Brennan was born at Upper Emu Creek near Bendigo, Victoria and was a younger brother of Tom Brennan, later an assistant minister in the conservative Lyons government. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1911–1931
	Samuel Dennis Samuel Dennis Samuel Dennis was an Australian politician. Born in Melbourne, he was educated at state schools before becoming a contractor and company director. He served on Northcote Council for 36 years before his election to the Australian House of Representatives in 1931 as the United Australia Party member...	United Australia United Australia Party The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia...	1931 Australian federal election, 1931 Federal elections were held in Australia on 19 December 1931. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election... –1934
	Frank Brennan Frank Brennan (Australian politician) Francis Brennan was an Australian lawyer and Australian Labor Party politician.Brennan was born at Upper Emu Creek near Bendigo, Victoria and was a younger brother of Tom Brennan, later an assistant minister in the conservative Lyons government. He studied law at the University of Melbourne and...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1934 Australian federal election, 1934 Federal elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons with coalition partner the Country Party led... –1949
	Alan Bird Alan Bird Alan Charles Bird was an Australian politician. Born in Launceston, Tasmania, he was educated at state primary schools in Melbourne and at Melbourne High School before becoming an engineer...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1949 Australian federal election, 1949 Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced... –1962
	Sam Benson Sam Benson Samuel James "Sam" Benson, CBE was an Australian politician. Born in Adelaide, he was educated in that city at St Peter's College...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1962–1966
		Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...	1966 Australian federal election, 1966 Federal elections were held in Australia on 26 November 1966. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Harold Holt with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen defeated the... –1969
	Horace Garrick Horace Garrick Horace James Garrick was an Australian politician. Born in Melbourne, he attended state schools and then Swinburne Technical College before becoming a mechanical engineer. Having sat on Collingwood City Council, he was Mayor from 1960 to 1961 and from 1968 to 1969...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1969 Australian federal election, 1969 Federal elections were held in Australia on 25 October 1969. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Gorton with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen defeated the Australian... –1977
	Brian Howe Brian Howe (politician) Brian Leslie Howe, AO , Australian politician, was Deputy Prime Minister in the Labor government of Paul Keating from 1991 to 1995....	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1977 Australian federal election, 1977 Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1977. All 124 seats in the House of Representatives, and 34 of the 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election.... –1996
	Martin Ferguson Martin Ferguson Martin John Ferguson AM , Australian politician, has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Batman, Victoria. He was born in Sydney, the son of Jack Ferguson, who was Deputy Premier of New South Wales from 1976...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1996–present

Election results