ALP 26.0%
Incumbent MP
Martin Ferguson, since 1996.
Geography
Batman covers parts of the inner north of Melbourne. Batman follows the same boundaries as Darebin council area, and covers the suburbs of Fairfield, Northcote, Thornbury, Preston, Reservoir and Kingsbury.
History
Batman is a long-standing Melbourne electorate, and for most of its history it has been held by Labor MPs.
The seat was first won in 1906 by Protectionist candidate Jabez Coon. Coon held the seat for only one term before losing it to Labor candidate Henry Beard in 1910. Beard was a former Labor state MP, and died only months after his election to the House of Representatives.
The ensuing by-election in 1911 was won by the ALP’s Frank Brennan. Brennan held the seat for the next twenty years, serving as Attorney-General in the Scullin government from 1929 until 1931. At the 1931 election Brennan lost his seat and the Scullin government was defeated, with Batman being won by UAP candidate Samuel Dennis.
Dennis only held on for one term, losing to Brennan in 1934. Brennan held the seat for another fifteen years, retiring in 1949.
Batman was won in 1949 by the ALP’s Alan Bird, a former Mayor of Northcote. Bird was re-elected throughout the 1950s, returning to the Northcote mayoralty for one year in 1958. He died in office in 1962.
The 1962 by-election was won by Williamstown mayor Sam Benson. Benson was re-elected in 1963 but in 1966 was expelled from the ALP over his support for the Vietnam War. He managed to win election as an independent in 1966. Benson retired in 1969, and the seat went to Labor candidate and Collingwood mayor Horace Garrick in 1969.
Garrick was re-elected at the 1972, 1974 and 1975 elections, but lost preselection in 1976 to Brian Howe, who won the seat at the 1977 election. Howe became a junior minister upon the election of the Hawke government in 1983, and was promoted to Cabinet following the 1984 election. Howe became Deputy Prime Minister in 1991 after Paul Keating moved to the backbench following a failed challenge to Bob Hawke’s leadership, and Howe held the position until 1995. He retired at the 1996 election.
Howe was succeeded in 1996 by former ACTU president Martin Ferguson. Ferguson went straight into the Labor shadow cabinet and was a shadow minister for the entirety of the Howard government, and joined the Cabinet in 2007 after the election of the Rudd government.
Candidates
- Andrew Conlon (Family First)
- George Souris (Liberal)
- Alexandra Kaur Bhathal (Greens)
- Con Sarazen (Democrats)
- Martin Ferguson (Labor)
Political situation
Looking at the pendulum, Batman appears to be the safest seat in Australia, with a 26% margin for the ALP. This masks the high vote for the Greens, who polled 17% in 2007, only 3% less than the Liberal Party. Like the seats of Sydney and Grayndler, this seat would become far more marginal if the Greens were to overtake the Liberal Party and make it a Labor-Greens contest. Having said that, Ferguson polled 57% of the primary vote in 2007. While that was probably a high watermark for the ALP, the party would need to fall below 50% for the Greens to have a chance. It doesn’t appear likely that the Greens could win Batman in 2010, but over a couple of elections this seat could be won, and is the fourth or fifth best prospect for the Greens across Australia.
2007 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Martin Ferguson | ALP | 45,551 | 57.18 | +1.65 |
| Jonathan Peart | LIB | 16,439 | 20.64 | -5.31 |
| Patricia Carey | GRN | 13,674 | 17.17 | +3.24 |
| Peter Kerin | FF | 2,090 | 2.62 | +1.49 |
| Darren Hassan | DEM | 1,619 | 2.03 | +0.57 |
| Robert Barwick | CEC | 288 | 0.36 | +0.13 |
2007 two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Martin Ferguson | ALP | 60,503 | 75.95 | +4.63 |
| Jonathan Peart | LIB | 19,158 | 24.05 | -4.63 |
Booth breakdown
Batman’s boundaries are coterminous with Darebin council area, making it harder to draw divisions within the electorate. Booths have been grouped into three areas: Reservoir in the north, Preston-Thornbury in the centre and Northcote-Fairfield in the south.
The three areas have very different election results for the three parties. In the south, the Greens are the clear second party, polling 10.5% more than the Liberal Party, with the ALP just over 50%. In the centre, the Liberals only just outpoll the Greens, with Labor closer to 60%. In the north, Labor polls over 60% and the Liberal Party polls 15% more than the Greens. If the southern parts of the seat were grouped with similar areas in neighbouring seats it would be far more competitive for the Greens than Batman.
| Voter group | ALP % | LIB % | GRN % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Preston-Thornbury | 59.06 | 18.78 | 17.26 | 24,529 | 30.79 |
| Reservoir | 61.99 | 23.45 | 8.47 | 23,185 | 29.10 |
| Northcote-Fairfield | 51.52 | 23.45 | 27.81 | 16,050 | 20.15 |
| Other votes | 52.99 | 22.75 | 18.96 | 15,897 | 19.96 |
Benson actually retired in 1969, rather than being defeated. Enjoying these a lot, though.
Batman’s boundaries are coterminous with those of Darebin City Council, rather than Moreland City Council (and think I need to declare that I’m the Greens candidate before I say thanks for the site, useful info which is valuable to all voters and parties alike – good on you whoever you are!)
The Greens won’t win Batman for a while yet. The map of their primary vote says a lot; they do really well in gentrified Northcote, but the Reservoir end of the seat is still real working class suburbia.
The overlapping state seat of Northcote will be one to watch in the Victorian Election though…..
John Wren assisted Brennan to win preselection in 1911. Fergo is the Green’ best asset in Batman!
Martin Ferguson is indeed an asset for the Greens in the seat of Batman. He really should be called Minerals Ferguson given his unquestioning for mining anything remotely like a rock all across Australia!!!
My prediction: Looking at the Greens polling in Victoria in some of the state-by-state breakdowns, they are certainly polling at a level that could bring Batman into range for an upset victory. Should certainly become a Labor-Greens 2PP contest. Labor retain, on a 4-6% margin over the Greens.
What a great result for the Greens. It will be interesting to see if the Victorian redistribution makes it a little easier for the Greens than the current boundaries. It also really makes the seat of Northcote winnable for the Greens in November. Alex polled in the 30s and 40s in most of the booths within the seat of Northcote, and she got 48.14% at the Northcote West booth.
Fergo’s father Jack was in the pro-Soviet wing of the left along with Lee Rhinannon.
Wouldn’t this seat be better named Darebin. I know John Batman was one of the founders of Melbourne but to have name of the electorate called Batman must provoke jokes by the dozen.