ALP 16.1%
Incumbent MP
Brendan O’Connor, since 2004. Previously Member for Burke 2001-2004.
Geography
Western Melbourne. Gorton covers all of the City of Melton and western parts of the City of Brimbank. As well as Melton, Gorton covers the suburbs of Derrimut, Deer Park, Cairnlea, Albanvale, Kings Park, Burnside, Ravenhall, Caroline Springs, Delahey, Hillside and Calder Park.
History
Gorton is the newest seat in Victoria, having been created at the 2004 election. The seat replaced the abolished seat of Burke, which sat in the same part of Melbourne. It is named after former Prime Minister John Gorton, who died in 2002. In its short history Gorton has been a very safe Labor seat, as was its predecessor seat of Burke.
Burke was created for the 1969 election. It was largely a safe seat, although it was considered marginal for much of the 1980s. It was held by Keith Johnson until 1980, followed by Andrew Theophanous from 1980 to 1984, when he moved to the new seat of Calwell, which he held until 2001. The seat was then held by Neil O’Keefe from 1984 to 2001. O’Keefe served as a Parliamentary Secretary in the second term of the Keating government.
In 2001, Burke was won by Brendan O’Connor, an official with the Australian Services Union, and O’Connor won the renamed Gorton in 2004. O’Connor was promoted to the Labor frontbench as a junior minister after the 2007 election. He served in a number of ministerial roles, and has served as shadow minister for employment and workplace relations since the 2013 election.
Candidates
- Brendan O’Connor (Labor)
- Daryl Lang (Liberal)
- Rod Swift (Greens)
Assessment
Gorton is a very safe Labor seat.
2013 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Brendan O’Connor | Labor | 44,449 | 50.7 | -12.1 |
| Phil Humphreys | Liberal | 22,328 | 25.5 | +3.4 |
| Dinesh Jayasuriya | Greens | 5,597 | 6.4 | -2.6 |
| Anthony Paul Barnes | Palmer United Party | 5,238 | 6.0 | +6.0 |
| Rhiannon Hunter | Sex Party | 2,850 | 3.3 | +3.3 |
| Scott Amberley | Family First | 2,538 | 2.9 | -2.1 |
| Michael Deverala | Democratic Labour Party | 2,392 | 2.7 | +2.7 |
| Mabor Chadhuol | Australian Christians | 1,132 | 1.3 | +1.3 |
| Graham Macardy | Katter’s Australian Party | 1,090 | 1.2 | +1.2 |
| Informal | 6,706 | 7.7 |
2013 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Brendan O’Connor | Labor | 57,933 | 66.1 | -7.5 |
| Phil Humphreys | Liberal | 29,681 | 33.9 | +7.5 |
Booth breakdown
Booths have been divided into three areas: central, east and west. These three areas are clearly delineated. Those polling places that were previously included in Lalor in are grouped as “west”. Those polling places in the City of Melton that were in Gorton in 2010 are grouped as “central”, while those in the City of Brimbank are grouped as “east”.
The Labor Party polled 64% of the two-party-preferred vote in the centre and west, and polled 75% in the east.
| Voter group | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Central | 63.7 | 19,649 | 22.4 |
| East | 75.0 | 17,266 | 19.7 |
| West | 64.2 | 17,068 | 19.5 |
| Other votes | 63.9 | 33,631 | 38.4 |
This will be an interesting race, as it’s the shortest lower house field (just three candidates) in the whole election.
I’m pretty sure that there’s only 3 candidates *because* it’s an uninteresting seat. O’Connor’s going to hold without a problem, and would do so whether there was 3 candidates or 300 candidates. He won in 2013 in his own right, and the Greens have never polled above 11%, while the Liberals only manage 22% in 2010 and 25% in 2013.
I’m fairly certain the only reason Liberals and Greens are running candidates is that they have that principle of running a candidate in every seat.
Could be the highest Labor primary in the country. Wouldn’t surprise me if O’Connor got close to two out of three primary votes.
Interesting because the Green guy is giving it a real shake out here in Melton. Only Lib and Green posters up.
Labor don’t exactly need to spend millions in this seat….no surprise if there’s not much of a visible campaign from them.
O’Connor since 2004. Maybe time for a change.