LIB 7.6%
Incumbent MP
Helen Shardey, since 1996.
Geography
Southeastern Melbourne. Caulfield covers northwestern parts of Glen Eira local government area and small parts of the City of Port Phillip to the east of St Kilda. Caulfield covers the suburb of Caulfield and parts of the suburbs of Balaclava, Elsternwick, Glenhuntly, Malvern East, Ormond, St Kilda and St Kilda East.
History
Caulfield was first created in 1927. In that time it has never been won by the ALP, and has always been won by conservative candidates, except one election when the seat was won by an independent socialist, in 1943.
The seat was first won in 1927 by the Liberal Party’s Frederick Forrest. He was re-elected in 1929, but died in office in October 1930.
The ensuing by-election was won by Harold Luxton. He held the seat for two terms, retiring in 1935. He was replaced in 1935 by Harold Cohen. He had been an MLC representing Melbourne South since 1929, and held Caulfield until 1943.
In 1943, Cohen was defeated by Andrew Hughes, an independent socialist candidate. Hughes  only held the seat for one term, losing to the Liberal Party’s Alexander Dennett.
Dennett ran as a candidate for the Electoral Reform party in 1955, and lost his seat to the Liberal Party’s Joseph Rafferty. Rafferty moved to the seat of Caulfield in 1958, which he held until 1967, when he moved again to Glenhuntly, which he held until his retirement in 1979.
In 1958, Caulfield was won by Alexander Fraser. He had previously held the seat of Grant from 1950 until his defeat in 1952, and then Caulfield East from 1955 to 1958. Fraser held the seat until his death in 1965.
The 1965 by-election was won by Ian McLaren. He had previously held the seat of Glen Iris for one term from 1945 to 1947. After one term in Caulfield, he moved to Bennettswood in 1967 and held it until his retirement in 1979.
In 1967, Caulfield was won by Edgar Tanner, who had previously been the Liberal Member for Ripponlea since 1955. He held Caulfield until his retirement in 1976.
Charles Francis won Caulfield in 1976. The next year he was expelled from the Liberal Party after abstaining on a no-confidence motion against the Liberal government, and he lost his seat in 1979 to Ted Turner, son of the former member.
The younger Turner served as a shadow minister in the 1980s and as Government Whip in the first term of the Kennett government, retiring at the 1996 election.
Caulfield was won in 1996 by the Liberal Party’s Helen Shardey. She has served as a shadow minister since the 1999 election, and currently serves as Shadow Minister for Health.
Candidates
- Eric Labonne (Family First)
- Peter Brohier (Independent)
- Daniel Sapphire (Independent)
- Phillip Walker (Greens)
- Heather Abramson (Labor)
- David Southwick (Liberal)
Political situation
Caulfield is relatively safe for the Liberal Party and shouldn’t be any trouble for Southwick to win for the Liberals.
2006 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Helen Shardey | LIB | 17,253 | 53.98 | +4.91 |
| Steve Cusworth | ALP | 9,343 | 29.23 | -5.79 |
| Peter Job | GRN | 4,878 | 15.26 | -0.65 |
| Eric Labonne | FF | 485 | 1.52 | +1.52 |
2006 two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Helen Shardey | LIB | 18,400 | 57.63 | +5.38 |
| Steve Cusworth | ALP | 13,526 | 42.37 | -5.38 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Caulfield have been divided into three areas: Elsternwickk in the south, Caulfield in the northeast, and Ripponlea in the northwest.
The Liberal Party won a large 60.9% majority in the Caulfield area, but only won a 53% majority in Elsternwick. In the smaller Ripponlea area, closer to St Kilda, the ALP polled almost 63%.
| Voter group | GRN % | LIB 2CP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Elsternwick | 15.33 | 53.01 | 9,266 | 29.02 |
| Caulfield | 13.43 | 60.90 | 7,795 | 24.42 |
| Ripponlea | 26.95 | 37.19 | 3,380 | 10.59 |
| Other votes | 13.01 | 65.16 | 11,485 | 35.97 |
You can see from these numbers the very strong personal vote for Michael Danby in Caulfield in the overlapping federal seat of Melbourne Ports. The Jewish Danby is very competitive in the affluent booths of Caulfied, home to Melbourne’s Jewish community, whereas at state level the Liberals seem to win the area quite comfortably. I believe Southwick is also Jewish and ran against Danby in Melbourne Ports on at least one occassion.
Also very obvious is the divide between the young, Green-friendly St Kilda overflow in the west and the established middle-to-upper class suburbs in the east.
This seat was apparently the scene of a stuff-up at the 2006 election where Antony Green’s computer called it for Family First. I think the local ABC actually called Shardey to tell her she’d lost before the mistake was corrected.
Heather Abramson is running for the ALP, Family First are running Eric Labonne, Daniel Sapphire is running for the unregistered Democrats, and Peter Brohier is running as an independent.
And in ballot paper order the candidates are:
Eric Labonne – Family First
Peter Brohier –
Daniel Sapphire –
Phillip Walker – Greens
Heather Abramson – Labor
David Southwick – Liberal
LIB hold
A person’s ethnicity or religion has nothing to do with how they vote. Caulfield and Caulfield North are not the only suburbs in Melbourne with a high Jewish population. The 2011 census shows that Jews make up 5% of St Kilda’s population, 5% of Prahran’s population, 26% of St Kilda East’s population, 6% of Elwood’s population, 18% of Elsternwick’s population, 8% of Carnegie, Murrumbeena, Glen Huntly, and Ormond’s population, 8% of Bentleigh East’s population, and 9% of Bentleigh’s population. All these areas are traditionally Labor, save for Bentleigh and Bentleigh East that swing. People vote along class lines. Caulfield and Caulfield North are more affluent therefore the Liberal Party does better there. Similar observations can be made with other non Anglo groups. The wealthier Italians of Templestowe overwhelmingly vote Liberal yet the working-class Italians of Thomastown or Brunswick overwhelmingly vote Labor. The 2012 census shows that over 6% of Hawthorn’s population is from Asian countries with 4% of their religious population being Buddhist, yet the people who live in Hawthorn are wealthy, therefore they vote Liberal. Working-class areas with sizeable Asian communities vote Labor. I don’t believe there is an ethnic vote or a religious vote. There is only a vote along class lines, as economic situations affect people. Even the Catholic – Anglican division cannot be used to determine who one votes for. The strongest Liberal electorate in metropolitan Melbourne, Hawthorn, has far more adherents of Catholicism than Anglicanism, yet they vote Liberal because they are wealthy. Infact according to the 2012 census 25% of Hawthorn’s population is not religious, out numbering the Anglicans. The same goes for Kew. Malvern, Toorak, Armadale, Brighton, Sandringham, Beaumaris/ Black Rock are Anglican areas, with above average numbers. The Melbourne wide average for Anglicans is 16% yet in Malvern 28% of the population is Anglican, in Toorak 26% of the population is Anglican, in Armadale 25% of the population is Anglican, in Brighton 29% of the population is Anglican, in Sandringham 28% of the population is Anglican, and in Black Rock/ Beaumaris 29% of the population is Anglican. Religion does not make a difference to the voting patterns of the elites, as the wealthy Catholics in Kew, Hawthorn, Hawthorn East, and Balwyn North line up along side their WASP bretheren in Malvern, Toorak, Armadale, and the suburbs of Bayside. The only difference I have ever noticed in their voting patterns was on the republic referendum when Kooyong voted overwhelmingly for a republic, while Higgins, and Goldstein sided with the monarchy. Religion no doubt played a part here, as people voted along identity lines. The Catholic voters did not want to side with the British monarchy for obvious reasons. In all other elections people vote along the lines of what will benefit them economically. The Jews of the working-class areas are unlikely to vote Liberal en masse while wealthier Jews in Toorak, Malvern, Armadale, Caulfield North, and Caulfield South overwhelmingly vote Liberal just like the wealthy WASPs of these areas.