The Division of Gippsland 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 the Gippsland

Gippsland

Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...

 region of eastern Victoria, which in turn is named for Sir George Gipps

George Gipps

Sir George Gipps was Governor of the colony of New South Wales, Australia, for eight years, between 1838 and 1846. His governorship was during a period of great change for New South Wales and Australia, as well as for New Zealand, which was administered as part of New South Wales for much of this...

, Governor of New South Wales 1838-46. It includes the towns of Bairnsdale

Bairnsdale, Victoria

Bairnsdale is a small city in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. With a population at the 2006 census of 11,282, it is a major regional centre of eastern Victoria along with Traralgon and Sale....

, Morwell

Morwell, Victoria

-Transport:The main form of transport in Morwell is the automobile. The Princes Freeway now bypasses the town to the south while the old Princes Highway which once passed through east-west through its centre is now Princes Drive and Commercial Road. The highway connects Morwell with other...

, Sale

Sale, Victoria

Sale is a city in the Gippsland region of the Australian state of Victoria. It is the seat of the Shire of Wellington as well as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sale and the Anglican Diocese of Gippsland. It has a population of around 13,336, and is expected to reach a population of 14,000 soon...

 and Traralgon

Traralgon, Victoria

Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Traralgon is a city within the City of Latrobe....

. In 104 years Gippsland has never elected a 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...

 member. It has been held by the Country Party

National Party of Australia

The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

 and its successor the National Party

National Party of Australia

The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

 since 1922: it is the only seat the party has held continuously since its creation. On its new boundaries, however, it takes in most of the industrial Latrobe Valley

Latrobe Valley

The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical region and urban area of Gippsland in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is east of the City Of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Great Dividing Range to the north – with the highest peak to the north of the...

.

Sitting MP Peter McGauran announced his resignation in April 2008, sparking a June 2008 by-election

Gippsland by-election, 2008

A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Gippsland on 28 June 2008. It was triggered by the resignation of National Party MP Peter McGauran....

, with the three major parties all contesting the election. The Nationals retained the seat on an increased margin, electing Darren Chester

Darren Chester

Darren Jeffrey Chester is an Australian politician. He is the National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for the electoral division of Gippsland in Victoria. He was elected at the 2008 by-election caused by the resignation of Peter McGauran.Chester was born in the Victorian...

.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Allan McLean Allan McLean (Australian politician) Allan McLean was an Australian politician, the 19th Premier of Victoria.McLean was born in the highlands of Scotland and came to Australia as a child in 1842 with his family. He later said 'were practically frozen out of Scotland' by 'an exceptionally severe winter'...	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...	1901–1904
		Anti-Socialist	1904–1906
	George Wise George Wise George Henry Wise was an Australian politician and solicitor.Wise was born in Melbourne and educated at Scotch College from five years of age to he matriculated in 1868. He became an articled clerk and was admitted to the bar in September 1874 and set up his own practice in 1877 in Sale...	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
		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...	1909–1913
	James Bennett James Bennett (Australian politician) James Bennett was an Australian politician. He was the Commonwealth Liberal Party member for the House of Representatives seat of Gippsland from his defeat of George Wise at the 1913 election until his defeat by Wise at the 1914 election. He was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne.-Notes:...	Commonwealth Liberal Commonwealth Liberal Party The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation....	1913 Australian federal election, 1913 Federal elections were held in Australia on 31 May 1913. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Andrew Fisher was defeated by the opposition Commonwealth Liberal... –1914
	George Wise George Wise George Henry Wise was an Australian politician and solicitor.Wise was born in Melbourne and educated at Scotch College from five years of age to he matriculated in 1868. He became an articled clerk and was admitted to the bar in September 1874 and set up his own practice in 1877 in Sale...	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...	1914 Australian federal election, 1914 Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 September 1914. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 36 seats in the Senate were up for election in a double dissolution... –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...	1916–1922
	Thomas Paterson Thomas Paterson Thomas Paterson was an Australian farmer and politician.Paterson was born in Aston, near Birmingham, England and educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham and Ayr Grammar School. He became a shoe salesman in 1897 and later a branch manager, but resigned in 1908 to study farming...	Country	1922 Australian federal election, 1922 Federal elections were held in Australia on 16 December 1922. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes lost its majority... –1943
	George Bowden George Bowden (Australian politician) George James Bowden MC was an Australian soldier and politician.-Early life:Bowden was born at Moyhu, Victoria to farmer William Henry Bowden and Catherine Christina, née McCalman. He attended the Whitfield and Benalla state schools before becoming a commission agent...	Country	1943 Australian federal election, 1943 Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 August 1943. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia John Curtin easily defeated the opposition Country Party led... –1961
	Peter Nixon Peter Nixon Peter James Nixon AO is a former Australian politician representing the National Party ....	Country National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...	1961 Australian federal election, 1961 Federal elections were held in Australia on 9 December 1961. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 31 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election... –1975
		National Country National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...	1975 Australian federal election, 1975 Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses.... –1982
		National National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...	1982–1983
	Peter McGauran	National National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...	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... –2008
	Darren Chester Darren Chester Darren Jeffrey Chester is an Australian politician. He is the National Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for the electoral division of Gippsland in Victoria. He was elected at the 2008 by-election caused by the resignation of Peter McGauran.Chester was born in the Victorian...	National National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...	2008 Gippsland by-election, 2008 A by-election was held for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Gippsland on 28 June 2008. It was triggered by the resignation of National Party MP Peter McGauran.... –present

Election results