Editing Division of Flinders

{{about|the Federal electorate in Victoria|the former Queensland electorate |Electoral district of Flinders (Queensland)|the electorate in South Australia|Electoral district of Flinders}}
{{short description|Australian federal electoral division}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox Australian Electorate
| federal   = yes
| name      = Flinders
| image     = {{switcher
|{{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=Australian Federal Electorates/Victoria (2022)/Flinders.map|frame-height=300|frame-width=400|overlay-horizontal-alignment=right|overlay-vertical-alignment=bottom|overlay=[[File:Division of Flinders 2022.png|x100px]]
}}
|From the [[2022 Australian federal election|2022 federal election]] to 2025
|{{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=Australian Federal Electorates/Victoria (2025)/Flinders.map|frame-height=300|frame-width=400|overlay-horizontal-alignment=right|overlay-vertical-alignment=bottom|overlay=[[File:Division of Flinders 2025.svg|x100px]]
}}
|From the [[2025 Australian federal election|2025 federal election]]
|default=2
}}
| caption   = Interactive map of electorate boundaries
| created   = 1901
| mp        = [[Zoe McKenzie]]
| mp-party  = [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| namesake  = [[Matthew Flinders]]
| electors  = 127620
| electors_year = [[2025 Australian federal election|2025]]
| area      = 887 
| class     = Semi-rural
| near-n    = [[Division of Dunkley|Dunkley]]
| near-ne   = [[Division of Holt|Holt]]
| near-e    = ''[[Western Port]]''
| near-se   = ''[[Western Port]]''
| near-s    = ''[[Bass Strait]]''
| near-sw   = ''[[Bass Strait]]''
| near-w    = ''[[Port Phillip]]''
| near-nw   = ''[[Port Phillip]]''
}}

The '''Division of Flinders''' is an [[Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives|Australian Electoral Division]] in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]. The division is one of the [[List of Australian electorates contested at every election|original 65 divisions]] contested at the [[1901 Australian federal election|first federal election]]. It is named after [[Matthew Flinders]], the first man to circumnavigate Australia, and the person credited with giving Australia its name.

Originally a country seat south and east of [[Melbourne]], Flinders is now based on the outer southern suburbs on the [[Mornington Peninsula]], including [[Dromana, Victoria|Dromana]], [[Hastings, Victoria|Hastings]] and [[Portsea, Victoria|Portsea]]. Even though Melbourne's suburban growth has long since spilled onto the peninsula, Flinders is still counted as a rural seat.

==Geography==
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at re-distributions by a re-distribution committee appointed by the [[Australian Electoral Commission]]. Re-distributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Muller |first1=Damon |title=The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1718/Quick_Guides/FederalRedistributions |website=Parliament of Australia |access-date=19 April 2022 |date=14 November 2017}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Toussaint Antoine DE CHAZAL DE Chamerel - Portrait of Captain Matthew Flinders, RN, 1774-1814 - Google Art Project.jpg|150px|thumb|left|[[Matthew Flinders]], the division's namesake]]
It has usually been a fairly safe seat for the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal Party]] and its predecessors, who have held it for all but six years since its creation.  However, it has occasionally been won by the [[Australian Labor Party]], notably at the [[1929 Australian federal election|1929 federal election]] when [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Stanley Bruce]] was defeated. This was the first of two times an incumbent Australian prime minister lost his own seat at a general election; the second time was not until Liberal Prime Minister [[John Howard]] lost his seat of [[Division of Bennelong|Bennelong]] at the [[2007 Australian federal election|2007 federal election]].

The seat's most prominent member was Bruce, who held it for all but two years from 1918 to 1933. Other prominent former members include [[Jack Holloway]], the Labor challenger who ousted Bruce and later a senior minister in the [[John Curtin|Curtin]] and [[Ben Chifley|Chifley]] governments (though he was the member for [[Division of Melbourne Ports|Melbourne Ports]] by then) and two deputy Liberal leaders – [[Phillip Lynch|Sir Phillip Lynch]] (a minister in the [[John Gorton|Gorton]], [[William McMahon|McMahon]] and [[Malcolm Fraser|Fraser]] governments) and [[Peter Reith]] (a minister in the [[John Howard|Howard]] government).
{{clear left}}

==Members==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan=2 | Image
! Member
! Party
! Term
! Notes
|-

|-
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Arthur Groom.jpg|100px]]
| [[Arthur Groom (politician)|Arthur Groom]]<br />{{small|(1852–1922)}}
| rowspan="2" | [[Free Trade Party|Free Trade]]
| nowrap | [[1901 Australian federal election|29 March 1901]] –<br/>[[1903 Australian federal election|23 November 1903]]
| Previously held the [[Victorian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Gippsland West|Gippsland West]]. Retired

|-
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan=2 | [[File:James Gibb.jpg|100px]]
| rowspan=2 | [[James Gibb (Australian politician)|James Gibb]]<br />{{small|(1843–1919)}}
| nowrap | [[1903 Australian federal election|16 December 1903]] –<br/>1906
| rowspan=2 | Previously held the [[Victorian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Mornington|Mornington]]. Did not contest in [[1906 Australian federal election|1906]]. Failed to win the Division of [[Division of Hume|Hume]]
|-
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan="2" | [[Free Trade Party|Anti-Socialist]]
| nowrap | 1906 –<br/>[[1906 Australian federal election|12 December 1906]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan=3 | [[File:21Williamirvine.jpg|100px]]
| rowspan=3 | [[William Irvine (Australian politician)|Sir William Irvine]]<br />{{small|(1858–1943)}}
| nowrap | [[1906 Australian federal election|12 December 1906]] –<br/>26 May 1909
| rowspan=3 | Previously held the [[Victorian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Lowan|Lowan]]. Served as minister under [[Joseph Cook|Cook]]. Resigned to become [[Chief Justice]] of the [[Supreme Court of Victoria|Victorian Supreme Court]]
|-
| {{Australian party style|Commonwealth Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| nowrap | [[Liberal Party (Australia, 1909)|Liberal]]
| nowrap | 26 May 1909 –<br/>17 February 1917
|-
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan="2" | [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist]]
| nowrap | 17 February 1917 –<br/>5 April 1918

|-
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Stanley Bruce 1926.jpg|100px]]
| [[Stanley Bruce]]<br />{{small|(1883–1967)}}
| nowrap | [[1918 Flinders by-election|11 May 1918]] –<br/>[[1929 Australian federal election|12 October 1929]]
| Served as minister under [[Billy Hughes|Hughes]]. Served as [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] from [[First Bruce Ministry|1923]] [[Third Bruce Ministry|to 1929]]. Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Jack Holloway.jpg|100px]] 
| [[Jack Holloway]]<br />{{small|(1875–1967)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1929 Australian federal election|12 October 1929]] –<br/>[[1931 Australian federal election|19 December 1931]]
| Transferred to the Division of [[Division of Melbourne Ports|Melbourne Ports]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|UAP}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Stanley Bruce 1930.jpg|100px]]
| [[Stanley Bruce]]<br />{{small|(1883–1967)}}
| rowspan="3" | [[United Australia Party|United Australia]]
| nowrap | [[1931 Australian federal election|19 December 1931]] –<br/>6 October 1933
| Served as minister under [[Lyons Government|Lyons]]. Resigned to become the [[List of High Commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner to the United Kingdom]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|UAP}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:James Fairbairn.png|100px]]
| [[James Fairbairn]]<br />{{small|(1897–1940)}}
| nowrap | [[1933 Flinders by-election|11 November 1933]] –<br/>[[1940 Canberra air disaster|13 August 1940]]
| Previously held the [[Victorian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Warrnambool|Warrnambool]]. Served as minister under [[Menzies Government (1939-1941)|Menzies]]. [[1940 Canberra air disaster|Died in office]].

|-
| {{Australian party style|UAP}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan=2 | [[File:Rupert Ryan.jpg|100px]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Rupert Ryan]]<br />{{small|(1884–1952)}}
| nowrap | [[1940 Australian federal election|21 September 1940]] –<br/>21 February 1945
| rowspan=2 | Died in office
|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| nowrap | [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | 21 February 1945 –<br/>25 August 1952

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Keith Ewart.png|100px]] 
| [[Keith Ewert]]<br />{{small|(1918–1989)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1952 Flinders by-election|18 October 1952]] –<br/>[[1954 Australian federal election|29 May 1954]]
| Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Robert Lindsay.png|100px]]
| [[Robert Lindsay (Australian politician)|Robert Lindsay]]<br />{{small|(1905–2000)}}
| rowspan="3" | [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[1954 Australian federal election|29 May 1954]] –<br/>[[1966 Australian federal election|31 October 1966]]
| Retired

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Phillip Lynch 1974 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| [[Phillip Lynch|Sir Phillip Lynch]]<br />{{small|(1933–1984)}}
| nowrap | [[1966 Australian federal election|26 November 1966]] –<br/>22 October 1982
| Served as minister under [[Gorton Government|Gorton]], [[McMahon Government|McMahon]] and [[Fraser Government|Fraser]]. Resigned due to ill health

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Peter Reith cropped.jpg|100px]]
| [[Peter Reith]]<br />{{small|(1950–2022)}}
| nowrap | [[1982 Flinders by-election|4 December 1982]] –<br/>[[1983 Australian federal election|5 March 1983]]
| Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Labor Placeholder.png|100px]] 
| [[Bob Chynoweth]]<br />{{small|(1941–)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1983 Australian federal election|5 March 1983]] –<br/>[[1984 Australian federal election|1 December 1984]]
| Transferred to the Division of [[Division of Dunkley|Dunkley]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Peter Reith cropped.jpg|100px]]
| [[Peter Reith]]<br />{{small|(1950–2022)}}
| rowspan="3" | [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[1984 Australian federal election|1 December 1984]] –<br/>[[2001 Australian federal election|8 October 2001]]
| Served as minister under [[Howard Government|Howard]]. Retired

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Greg Hunt.jpg|100px]]
| [[Greg Hunt]]<br />{{small|(1965–)}}
| nowrap | [[2001 Australian federal election|10 November 2001]] –<br/>[[2022 Australian federal election|11 April 2022]]
| Served as minister under [[Abbott Government|Abbott]], [[Turnbull Government|Turnbull]] and [[Morrison Government|Morrison]]. Retired

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Liberal Placeholder.png|100px]] 
| [[Zoe McKenzie]]<br />{{small|(1972–)}}
| nowrap | [[2022 Australian federal election|21 May 2022]] –<br/>present
| Incumbent
|}

==Election results==
{{main|Electoral results for the Division of Flinders}}
{{Excerpt|Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Victoria|section=Flinders}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/vic/flinders.htm Division of Flinders - Australian Electoral Commission]

{{Australian federal divisions of Victoria}}

{{coord|-38.346|145.324|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flinders, Division of}}
[[Category:Electoral divisions of Australia]]
[[Category:Electoral divisions of Australia in Victoria]]
[[Category:Constituencies established in 1901]]
[[Category:1901 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Shire of Mornington Peninsula]]
[[Category:Sorrento, Victoria]]
[[Category:Electoral districts and divisions of Greater Melbourne]]