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| Australian federal election, 2016
Division of Murray, Victoria
Northern Victoria: Echuca, Rochester, Shepparton, Yarrawonga
Sitting member: Hon Dr Sharman Stone (Liberal), elected 1996. Retiring 2013
Enrolment at close of rolls: 104,430
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 20.9%
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Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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1. Damian Drum
The Nationals |
2. Andrew Bock
Independent |
3. Ian Christoe
Australian Greens |
4. Duncan McGauchie
Liberal Party |
5. Nigel Hicks
Independent |
6. Fern Summer
Independent |
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7. Jeff Davy
Citizens Electoral Council |
8. Diane Teasdale
Independent |
9. Robert Danieli
Country Party |
10. Alan Williams
Australian Labor Party |
11. Yasmin Guneraseka
Rise Up Australia |
2013 results
Statistics and history
Murray was created in 1949, and has always occupied the central part of the Murray Valley, based on Shepparton. This is one of the most heavily agricultural parts of Australia, and also one of the most politically conservative. Murray has always been an ulra-safe seat for the non-Labor parties. Like most reural seats, it has a low level of median family income, and a low proportion of people born in non English speaking countries.
The Murray Valley was one of the birthplaces of the Country Party, and the old seat of Echuca, which covered much the same territory, first elected a Country Party member in 1919. The loss of Murray to the Liberals in 1996 was thus a shock, and a symbol of the decline of the Nationals in Victoria.
The first member for Murray was Sir John McEwen, who was briefly Prime Minister in 1967-68 (McEwen had previously been member for Echuca and Indi since 1934). The last time the seat was vacant, in 1996, Dr Sharman Stone won it for the Liberals. Stone, who has a doctorate in sociology, was a minister in the Howard Government, but was not included in the Abbott ministry. She is retiring at this election.
This has created a three-cornered contest, a once-common event which is now a rarity in federal politics. The Nationals are making a determined effort to regain the seat, running Damian Drum, a Shepparton businessman, former Geelong footballer and Fremantle coach, and since 2002 a Nationals member of the Victorian Legislative Council. The Liberal candidate is Duncan McGauchie, a former adviser to Premier Ted Baillieu. More to the point, he is the son of Don McGauchie, a former Testra chairman and president of the National Farmers Federation. The McGauchie name is very well-known in the area.
The Labor candidate is Alan Williams, a retired teacher from Yarrawonga. He will probably come third, and his preferences may well determine which of the two conservative candidates wins the seat.
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Prospective pendulum, showing all candidates
State and territory maps, showing new boundaries
The thirty seats that will decide the election
Other seats of interest
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