ALP 12.4%
Incumbent MP
Jill Hennessy, since 2010.
Geography
Western Melbourne. Altona covers suburbs near Port Phillip Bay between Melbourne and Geelong, specifically Altona, Altona Meadows, Laverton, Point Cook, Seabrook and Seaholme. Altona covers western parts of the City of Hobsons Bay and eastern parts of the City of Wyndham.
Redistribution
Altona was well over quota, so retracted to cover a smaller area, losing Laverton North, Hoppers Crossing and Williams Landing to Tarneit. Altona then gained Seaholme from Williamstown at the eastern end of Altona. These changes slightly increased the Labor margin from 12% to 12.4%.
History
Altona was first created for the 1992 election, and it has always been held by the ALP.
The seat was first won in 1992 by Carole Marple. She held the seat for one term, but before the 1996 election she was defeated for preselection by Lynne Kosky.
Kosky was re-elected in 1999, 2002 and 2006. She served as a minister in the Bracks government from 1999 to 2010, most recently as Minister for Public Transport. She retired from politics in January 2010.
The 2010 Altona by-election was won by the ALP’s Jill Hennessy. She won despite a large swing to the Liberal Party, which cut the ALP’s margin from 20% to under 8%. Hennessy was re-elected at the 2010 general election.
Candidates
- Brijender Nain (Independent)
- Jemal Hiabu (Voice for the West)
- Chris de Bono (Greens)
- Anthony O’Neill (Australian Christians)
- Nihal Samara (Liberal)
- Jill Hennessy (Labor)
Assessment
Altona is a safe Labor seat.
2010 election result
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
Jill Hennessy | Labor | 22,954 | 51.02 | -9.59 | 51.07 |
Mark Rose | Liberal | 14,944 | 33.22 | +9.33 | 33.34 |
David Strangward | Greens | 4,516 | 10.04 | +1.62 | 10.39 |
Elizabeth Mumby | Family First | 1,582 | 3.52 | -3.56 | 3.22 |
Brijender Nain | Independent | 991 | 2.20 | +2.2 | 1.99 |
2010 two-party-preferred result
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
Jill Hennessy | Labor | 27,886 | 61.96 | -8.25 | 62.44 |
Mark Rose | Liberal | 17,117 | 38.04 | +8.25 | 37.56 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Altona have been divided into three parts: central, east and west.
The ALP won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 57.8% in the west to 69.3% in the centre of the seat.
The Greens came third, with a primary vote ranging from 9.6% in the west to 12.7% in the east.
Voter group | GRN % | ALP 2PP % | Total | % of votes |
West | 9.61 | 57.83 | 10,683 | 30.22 |
Central | 10.25 | 69.28 | 9,628 | 27.24 |
East | 12.69 | 61.32 | 5,783 | 16.36 |
Other votes | 9.99 | 61.42 | 9,253 | 26.18 |
Independent Brijender Nain has nominated again this year