Mitcham, South Australia
Encyclopedia
Mitcham is a suburb of Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...

 in the City of Mitcham
City of Mitcham
The City of Mitcham is a Local Government Area situated in the foothills of eastern Adelaide, South Australia. Within its bounds is Flinders University, South Australia's third largest....

.

Created as a village separate from Adelaide ("Mitcham Village"), it was ancillary to a sheep station at Brown Hill Creek
Brown Hill Creek
Brown Hill Creek, in South Australia, , is one of several creeks running in a generally west-north-west direction, draining the western watershed of the Mount Lofty Ranges....

 belonging to the South Australia Company
South Australia Company
The South Australian Company was formed in London on 9 October 1835 by George Fife Angas and other wealthy British merchants to develop a new settlement in South Australia; its purpose was to build a new colony...

. Prior to European settlement the area was inhabited by the Kaurna aboriginal people. A group of about 150 formerly camped at "Wirraparinga", now Mitcham reserve, (known for many years as "Brown Hill Creek reserve").

Politics

Mitcham is located in the federal electorate of Boothby
Division of Boothby
The Division of Boothby is an Australian Electoral Division in South Australia. The division was created in 1903 and is named after William Boothby , the Returning Officer for the first election of Members of the House of Representatives in 1901....

, and has been represented since 1996 by Andrew Southcott
Andrew Southcott
Andrew John Southcott MP is an Australian politician and medical practitioner. He has been the Liberal Party member for the Australian House of Representatives seat of Boothby, South Australia, since the 1996 election.-Early life:...

 of the Liberal Party of Australia
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...

. This seat has been held by the Liberal party since 1949: John McLeay, Sr. (1949-1966), John McLeay, Jr. (1966-1981) and Steele Hall
Steele Hall
Raymond Steele Hall was the 36th Premier of South Australia 1968-70, a senator for South Australia 1974-77, and federal member for the Division of Boothby 1981-96.-Biography:...

 (1981-1996).

At the state level it is in the electorate of Waite
Electoral district of Waite
Waite is an electoral district of the House of Assembly in the Australian state of South Australia. Named after Peter Waite, a 19th entrepreneur and philanthropist in the current area of the electorate, it is a 30.6km² urban electorate in Adelaide's inner south-eastern suburbs, taking in the...

, and has been represented since 1997 by Martin Hamilton-Smith
Martin Hamilton-Smith
Martin Leslie James Hamilton-Smith is the member for the electoral district of Waite in the South Australian House of Assembly since 1997...

, also of the Liberal party, and from 2007 to 2009, the State Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition (South Australia)
The Leader of the Opposition in South Australia is the leader of the largest minority political party or coalition of parties, known as the Opposition, in the House of Assembly of the Parliament of South Australia. By convention, he or she is generally a member of the House of Assembly...

. Prior to Hamilton-Smith, the member since the seat's first election in 1993 was Stephen Baker
Stephen Baker (Australian politician)
Stephen Baker was an Australian politician, representing the Liberal Party of Australia in the electoral district of Waite, formerly Mitcham in the South Australian House of Assembly...

, who held the posts of Treasurer and Deputy Leader (1993-1996).

It is the seat of the Mitcham Council
City of Mitcham
The City of Mitcham is a Local Government Area situated in the foothills of eastern Adelaide, South Australia. Within its bounds is Flinders University, South Australia's third largest....

.
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