The Division of Flinders 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 one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for Matthew Flinders

Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders RN was one of the most successful navigators and cartographers of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent, which had previously been...

, the first man to circumnavigate Australia, and the person credited with giving Australia her name.

Originally a country seat south and east of Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Flinders has been gradually cut back to the outer southern suburbs on the Mornington Peninsula

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south-east of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geographically, the peninsula begins its protrusion...

, including Dromana

Dromana, Victoria

Dromana is a suburb south of Melbourne, the capital city of Victoria, Australia, and is located on the Mornington Peninsula. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula.-Geography:...

, Hastings

Hastings, Victoria

Hastings is a suburb on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia, as a part of the urban enclave on Westernport comprising Hastings, Bittern, Crib Point, Tyabb, and Somerville. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula...

 and Portsea

Portsea, Victoria

Portsea is a resort town located across Port Phillip from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Mornington Peninsula....

.

It has usually been a fairly safe seat for the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Australia

The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

 and its predecessors, who have held it for all but six years since its creation. However, it has occasionally been won by 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...

, notably in 1929 when Prime Minister

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

 Stanley Bruce

Stanley Bruce

Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...

 was defeated. This was the first time an Australian Prime Minister has lost his own seat at a general election. (The only other such instance was the defeat of Liberal Prime Minister John Howard

John Howard

John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies....

 in his seat of Bennelong

Division of Bennelong

The Division of Bennelong is an Australian electorate in New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Bennelong, an Aboriginal man befriended by the first Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip...

, also by Labor, in the 2007 federal election.)

Other prominent members include former Deputy Liberal leaders Sir Phillip Lynch

Phillip Lynch

Sir Phillip Reginald Lynch KCMG was an Australian Liberal politician.Lynch held the House of Representatives seat of Flinders from 1966 to 1982. Between 1968 and 1972, he served variously as Minister for the Army, Minister for Immigration, and Minister for Labour and National Service, under Prime...

 and Peter Reith

Peter Reith

Peter Keaston Reith, , former Australian politician, was a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and then a senior Cabinet minister in the first two terms of the Howard Government.-Early life:...

.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Arthur Groom Arthur Groom Arthur Champion Groom was an Australian politician and land agent.-Early life:Groom was born at Harefield, Tasmania, the fifth son of Francis Groom and Matilda Emma, née Minnett. He attended Horton College at Ross before arriving in Victoria in 1872...	Free Trade Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909...	1901–1903
	James Gibb	Free Trade Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909... , Anti-Socialist	1903–1906
	William Irvine William Irvine (Australian politician) Sir William Hill Irvine GCMG , Australian politician and judge, was the 21st Premier of Victoria. Irvine was born in Newry in County Down, Ireland, into a Scottish-Presbyterian family...	Anti-Socialist	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....	1909–1916
		Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...	1916–1918
	Stanley Bruce Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...	Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...	1918–1929
	Jack Holloway	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...	1929 Australian federal election, 1929 Federal elections were held in Australia on 12 October 1929. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, with no Senate seats up for election, as a result of Billy Hughes and other rebel backbenchers crossing the floor over industrial relations legislation, depriving the... –1931
	Stanley Bruce Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...	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... –1933
	James Fairbairn James Fairbairn James Valentine Fairbairn was a pastoralist, aviator, Australian politician and cabinet minister who was killed in the Canberra air disaster....	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...	1933–1940
	Rupert Ryan Rupert Ryan Rupert Sumner Ryan CMG was an Australian soldier and politician.-Early life:Ryan was born in Melbourne to surgeon Sir Charles Snodgrass Ryan and Alice Elfrida, née Sumner. He was one of two siblings; his sister Ethel Marian Sumner would later marry Richard Casey, Baron Casey...	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...	1940 Australian federal election, 1940 Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 September 1940. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election... –1944
		Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	1944–1952
	Keith Ewert Keith Ewert Keith Walter Wilson Ewert was an Australian politician. Educated at Melbourne High School and the University of Melbourne, he was an accountant before entering politics...	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...	1952–1954
	Robert Lindsay Robert Lindsay (Australian politician) Robert William Ludovic Lindsay was an English-born Australian politician. Born in Norwich, England, he was educated at Eton College and then the Royal Military College, Sandhurst. He served in the military from 1925-37 and 1939-52...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	1954 Australian federal election, 1954 Federal elections were held in Australia on 29 May 1954. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election, no Senate election took place... –1966
	Phillip Lynch Phillip Lynch Sir Phillip Reginald Lynch KCMG was an Australian Liberal politician.Lynch held the House of Representatives seat of Flinders from 1966 to 1982. Between 1968 and 1972, he served variously as Minister for the Army, Minister for Immigration, and Minister for Labour and National Service, under Prime...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	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... –1982
	Peter Reith Peter Reith Peter Keaston Reith, , former Australian politician, was a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and then a senior Cabinet minister in the first two terms of the Howard Government.-Early life:...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	1982 Flinders by-election, 1982 A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Flinders on 4 December 1982. This was triggered by the resignation of Liberal Party MP Phillip Lynch.The by-election was won by Liberal Party candidate Peter Reith... –1983
	Bob Chynoweth	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...	1983 Australian federal election, 1983 Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution... –1984
	Peter Reith Peter Reith Peter Keaston Reith, , former Australian politician, was a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and then a senior Cabinet minister in the first two terms of the Howard Government.-Early life:...	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	1984–2001
	Greg Hunt Greg Hunt Gregory Andrew Hunt , an Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since November 2001, representing the Division of Flinders, Victoria....	Liberal Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	2001–present

Election results