Electoral district of Benalla

Benalla Victoria—Legislative Assembly
State	Victoria
Created	1904
Abolished	2014
Electors	36,987 (2010)
Area	17,120 km2 (6,610.1 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

Benalla was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. The electorate covered a rural area of 17,120 km², and included the towns of Benalla, Bright, Eildon, Euroa, Mansfield, Mount Beauty, Murchison, Myrtleford, Nagambie and Violet Town. The electorate had a population of 47,675 as of the 2006 census, with 36,987 enrolled electors in the 2010 state election.

The seat was created in 1904. Historically a staunchly conservative rural district, it was held by conservative members for most of its history. It was held by various early conservative parties throughout the early 20th century, but became safe for the rural conservative National Party, which held the seat for all but nine years from 1920 to 2000.

This trend was briefly and unexpectedly broken in a 2000 by-election caused by the resignation of long-time National Party leader and former Deputy Premier Pat McNamara. In a major upset, Denise Allen became the first Labor member ever to win it. The seat's conservative nature, however, reasserted itself when Bill Sykes regained the seat for the Nationals at the 2002 election despite a landslide Labor victory which devastated the conservative parties across the state.

The seat reverted to form in the 2006 election, and Sykes held it without serious difficulty until his retirement after the 2014 election. Benalla was abolished at the same time, and was largely replaced with Euroa.

Members for Benalla

Member		Party	Term
	John Carlisle	Liberal	1904–1909
		Deakinite Liberal	1909–1917
		Economy	1917–1918
		Nationalist	1918–1920
		Farmers Union	1920
		Country	1920–1926
		Independent	1926–1927
	Edward Cleary	Country Progressive	1927–1930
		Country	1930–1936
	Frederick Cook	Independent	1936–1939
		Liberal Country	1939–1943
		Country	1943–1961
	Tom Trewin	Country	1961–1975
		National Country	1975–1982
	Pat McNamara	National	1982–2000
	Denise Allen	Labor	2000–2002
	Bill Sykes	National	2002–2014

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Benalla

2010 Victorian state election: Benalla

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Bill Sykes	21,072	63.28	+21.15
	Labor	Rowena Allen	6,124	18.39	−6.81
	Greens	Kammy Cordner Hunt	2,756	8.28	+1.18
	Country Alliance	Rochelle Hunt	2,546	7.65	+7.65
	Independent	Nicholas Williams	804	2.41	+2.41
Total formal votes			33,302	95.97	−0.50
Informal votes			1,398	4.03	+0.50
Turnout			34,700	93.82	+0.67
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Bill Sykes	24,354	73.06	+5.55
	Labor	Rowena Allen	8,978	26.94	−5.55
	National hold		Swing	+5.55

External links

• Benalla District profile, Victorian Electoral Commission