Electoral district of Benalla

Benalla is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. The electorate covers a rural area of 17,120 km², and includes the towns of Benalla, Bright, Eildon, Euroa, Mansfield, Mount Beauty, Murchison, Myrtleford, Nagambie and Violet Town. The electorate had a population of 54,495 as of the 2001 census.

The seat was created in 1904, and as it was based around a staunchly conservative rural district, has traditionally been 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 Country Party and its successor, the National Party from the 1940s.

This trend was briefly and unexpectedly broken in 2000, when it fell to Labor candidate Denise Allen in a by-election caused by the resignation of long-time National Party leader and former Deputy Premier Pat McNamara. The strength of the conservative vote in the seat was again illustrated, however, when it returned to the National Party at the 2002 election despite a landslide Labor victory which devastated the conservative parties across the state.

The current member is Bill Sykes, the National Party spokesman for Police & Emergency Services, Corrections and Treasury.

Members for Benalla

External links

• District profile from the Victorian Electoral Commission
• District map from the Victorian Electoral Commission (PDF)