Richmond is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It is currently a 13 km2 electorate in the inner east of Melbourne, encompassing the suburbs of Richmond, Cremorne, Burnley, Abbotsford, Collingwood, Clifton Hill, Fitzroy and Fitzroy North. Historically a very safe seat for the Labor Party, Richmond has in recent elections become increasingly marginal against the Greens, who eventually won the seat at the 2022 Victorian state election.
History Richmond is one of only three electorates (along with Brighton and Williamstown) to have been contested at every election since 1856. It was initially a two-member electorate, but was changed to a single-member electorate in the redistribution of 1904 when several new districts were created including Abbotsford. It covers a series of traditionally working-class, industrial suburbs, and was continuously held by the Labor Party and Democratic Labor Party between 1904 and 2022. Following the Labor split of 1955, incumbent Labor member, Frank Scully, joined six other Catholic MPs in breaking away to found the Democratic Labor Party. Scully, as the party's leader, was the only MP to hold his seat at the next election. He was defeated in 1958 by Bill Towers, previously the member for the abolished seat of Collingwood.
Labor member Demetri Dollis was disendorsed for extended absence overseas in 1999 and Richard Wynne was preselected by the party instead. Wynne served as the state Minister for Housing and Minister for Local Government in the Bracks and Brumby governments from 2006 to 2010, and was the Minister for Planning in the second Andrews government.
Though a traditionally safe Labor seat, it has become progressively marginal in recent years due to significant gentrification. Support for the Greens has increased as the seat became wealthier. This first occurred at the 2002 state election, when union organiser Gemma Pinnell nearly won the seat on Liberal preferences, taking 47 per cent of the two-party preferred vote. The Green surge was seen as a reaction to the conservative policies of the then federal Labor leader, Kim Beazley. Labor polled slightly better in the 2006 state election, taking 54% of the two-party preferred against Greens candidate and local councillor Gurm Sekhon. It remained a marginal seat and was strongly contested by Greens candidate, Kathleen Maltzahn, at the 2010 and 2014 state elections.
Following Wynne's retirement at the 2022 election, there was fierce contest between Labor and the Greens. Former City of Yarra mayor, Gabrielle de Vietri, was preselected as the Greens candidate. De Vietri won the seat with a 14.1% swing towards the party. This was due to numerous factors such as the loss of Wynne's personal vote and controversy surrounding the Labor candidate's claims of Aboriginal heritage. De Vietri is currently the Greens spokesperson for the Arts and Public Housing.
Historical maps
Members for Richmond Two-member electorate (1856–1904) ImageMemberPartyTermNotesImageMemberPartyTermNotes George Evans Unaligned 1 November 1856 – 1 August 1859 Daniel Campbell Unaligned 1 November 1856 – 1 August 1859 James Francis Unaligned 1 October 1859 – 1 November 1874 Premier of Victoria from 1872 until 1874. Resigned Alfred Woolley Unaligned 1 October 1859 – 1 July 1861 Thomas Lambert Unaligned 1 August 1861 – 1 July 1864 Archibald Wardrop Unaligned 1 November 1864 – 1 July 1866 Resigned Ambrose Kyte Unaligned 1 January 1867 – 1 December 1867 Former member for East Melbourne. Won by-election James Harcourt Unaligned 1 June 1868 – 1 June 1871 Louis Smith Unaligned 1 April 1871 – 1 March 1874 Robert Inglis Unaligned 1 May 1874 – 1 April 1877 Joseph Bosisto Unaligned 1 December 1874 – 1 March 1889 Louis Smith Unaligned 1 May 1877 – 1 February 1880 William Froggatt Walker Unaligned 1 May 1880 – 1 June 1880 Louis Smith Unaligned 1 July 1880 – 1 February 1883 Charles Smith Unaligned 1 February 1883 – 1 March 1889 George Henry Bennett Unaligned 1 April 1889 – 1 June 1904 Re-elected when Richmond became single-member seat in 1904 William Trenwith 1 April 1889 – 18 November 1903 First leader of the Victorian Labor Party. Resigned to successfully contest 1903 federal election and served as senator for Victoria from 1904 until 1910 George Roberts 21 December 1903 – 1 June 1904 Lost seat when Richmond became single-member seat in 1904
Single-member electorate (1904–present) ImageMemberPartyTermNotes George Henry Bennett Liberal Oppositionist 1 June 1904 – 14 February 1907 Died in office 14 February 1907 – 8 September 1908 Ted Cotter 2 October 1908 – 10 November 1945 Won by-election. Retired after losing Labor preselection Stan Keon 10 November 1945 – 22 October 1949 Resigned to successfully contest Yarra at the 1949 federal election Frank Scully 17 December 1949 – 30 March 1955 Won by-election. Joined Labor (Anti-Communist) after being suspended from Labor. Lost seat Labor (Anti-Communist) 30 March 1955 – 18 August 1957 18 August 1957 – 31 May 1958 Bill Towers 31 May 1958 – 18 March 1962 Died in office Clyde Holding 12 May 1962 – 3 November 1977 Won by-election. Leader of the Opposition from 1967 until 1977. Resigned to successfully contest Melbourne Ports at the 1977 federal election Theo Sidiropoulos 17 December 1977 – 1 October 1988 Won by-election. First Greek-born member of the Parliament of Victoria. Retired Demetri Dollis 1 October 1988 – 18 September 1999 Deputy Leader of the Opposition from 1994 until 1996. Disendorsed for extended absence overseas. Later served as Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Greece Richard Wynne 26 November 2022 Retired Gabrielle de Vietri present Incumbent
Election results
References
External links Richmond District - Victorian Electoral Commission