The Electoral district of Morwell is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

Victorian Legislative Assembly

The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of Victoria in Australia. Together with the Victorian Legislative Council, the upper house, it sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Melbourne.-History:...

. It covers the regional centres of 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...

 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....

 as well as the surrounding rural areas in the middle of 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...

.

Created in 1955 it was held by the Liberals

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...

 until the 1970 election when it was won by 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...

. They held the seat until the 2006 election

Victorian state election, 2006

An election for the 56th Parliament of Victoria took place on Saturday, 25 November 2006. Just over 3 million Victorians registered to vote elected 88 members to the Legislative Assembly and, for the first time, 40 members to the Legislative Council under a proportional representation system...

 when the Nationals

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...

 unexpectedly gained the seat.

It was one of the few seats to record a swing

Swing (Australian politics)

The term swing is used in Australia in a different sense from the one employed in the UK. For the Australian House of Representatives and the lower houses of the parliaments of all the Australian states and territories except Tasmania and the ACT), Australia employs preferential voting in...

 to the Liberals at the 2002 election. This was primarily due to the presence of a pro-logging independent Labor party candidate who directed his preferences

Instant-runoff voting

Instant-runoff voting , also known as preferential voting, the alternative vote and ranked choice voting, is a voting system used to elect one winner. Voters rank candidates in order of preference, and their ballots are counted as one vote for their first choice candidate. If a candidate secures a...

 to the Liberal Party. Labor's Brendan Jenkins

Brendan Jenkins

Brendan James Jenkins is the former Australian Labor Party member for Morwell in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Jenkins lost his seat to Nationals candidate Russell Northe after a swing to the Nationals in the 2006 election.-References:...

 still won the seat with a 4.9% margin.

Jenkins suffered similar internal dissent at the 2006 election which again resulted in a former ALP member running against him. However this time Jenkins was not able to retain the seat, losing to Russell Northe

Russell Northe

Russell Northe, born 6 February 1966, is an Australian politician and a current member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Prior to winning preselection by The Nationals for the seat of Morwell, he was a local Australian rules footballer....

 from the Nationals.

Members for Morwell

	Member	Party	Term
	Jim Balfour	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...	1955–1967
	Archie Tanner	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...	1967–1970
	Derek Amos	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...	1970–1981
	Valerie Callister	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...	1981–1988
	Keith Hamilton Keith Hamilton (politician) Keith Graeme Hamilton is the former Australian Labor Party member for Morwell in the Victorian Legislative Assembly....	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...	1988–2002
	Brendan Jenkins Brendan Jenkins Brendan James Jenkins is the former Australian Labor Party member for Morwell in the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Jenkins lost his seat to Nationals candidate Russell Northe after a swing to the Nationals in the 2006 election.-References:...	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...	2002–2006
	Russell Northe Russell Northe Russell Northe, born 6 February 1966, is an Australian politician and a current member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. Prior to winning preselection by The Nationals for the seat of Morwell, he was a local Australian rules footballer....	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...	2006–present

Election results

See also

• Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
  Parliaments of the Australian states and territories
  The Parliaments of the Australian states and territories are legislative bodies within the federal framework of the Commonwealth of Australia. Before the formation of the Commonwealth in 1901, the six Australian colonies were self-governing, with parliaments which had come into existence at various...
  
  
• List of members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly

External links

• Electorate profile: Morwell District, Victorian Electoral Commission