Hindmarsh – Australia 2019

ALP 8.4%

Incumbent MP

• Steve Georganas, member for Hindmarsh since 2016, previously 2004-2013.
• Mark Butler, member for Port Adelaide since 2007.

Geography
Hindmarsh covers the western coastal suburbs of Adelaide, stretching from Torrens Island and Port Adelaide to West Beach and Camden Park.

Redistribution
Hindmarsh has been completely redrawn, shifting north to take in about half of the abolished seat of Port Adelaide. The new seat takes in Grange, Henley Beach, Tennyson, Kidman Park, Fulham, Netley, West Beach, Camden Park and Semaphore Park from Hindmarsh. It also takes in Findon, Hendon, Woodville, Athol Park, St Clair, Port Adelaide and Largs Bay from Port Adelaide. The former seat of Hindmarsh was very marginal, with a Labor margin of 0.6%, but the new seat has a much safer 8.4% margin.

History
Hindmarsh is an original South Australian seat, having been created for the 1903 election. In the first 100 years of the seat, Labor held it for all but one term, before losing the seat again in 2013.

The seat was first held by James Hutchison of the ALP, who held the seat from 1903 to his death in 1909, and he was succeeded by William Archibald at the 1910 election. Archibald served in Andrew Fisher’s third government as Minister for Home Affairs. Archibald followed Prime Minister Billy Hughes out of the ALP in 1916 over conscription, and briefly served as a minister in Hughes’ National Labor minority government before he returned to the backbenches in the new Nationalist government. Archibald was reelected in 1917 before being defeated in 1919.

After Labor won the seat back in 1919, they held it for the next 74 years continuously. The seat was won in 1919 by Norman Makin, who went on to serve as Speaker during the Scullin government and as a minister under Curtin and Chifley, before leaving Parliament in 1946 to serve as Ambassador to the United States.

Albert Thompson won the seat in 1946, and held it for one term before moving to the new seat of Port Adelaide. Hindmarsh was won in 1949 by Clyde Cameron, who was a major figure in the ALP during the long years of opposition of the 1950s and 1960s, serving as Deputy Leader and a leading figure in the Left of the party. He served in the Whitlam ministry from 1972 to 1975 and continued as an opposition backbencher until his retirement in 1980.

The seat was held by John Scott from 1980 until his retirement in 1993. The 1993 election saw the neighbouring marginal Liberal seat of Hawker abolished, and sitting Member for Hawker Christine Gallus won Hindmarsh off the ALP. This was the only time the ALP had lost the seat to another party in ninety years.

Gallus served as a Shadow Minister in the last term of the Keating government and served in the Howard government as a Parliamentary Secretary in the early 2000s before retiring in 2004. In the election to succeed her, Steve Georganas of the ALP defeated Liberal candidate Simon Birmingham by only 108 votes.

Georganas was re-elected in 2007 and 2010, increasing his margin to 5.7%.

In 2013, Georganas lost Hindmarsh to Liberal candidate Matt Williams with a swing of almost 8%.

Georganas returned to Hindmarsh in 2016, defeating Williams in a very close result.

Candidates

Assessment
Hindmarsh has been redrawn as a reasonably safe seat for Labor.

2016 result – Hindmarsh

2016 two-party-preferred result – Hindmarsh

2016 result – Port Adelaide

2016 two-candidate-preferred result – Port Adelaide

2016 two-party-preferred result – Port Adelaide

Booth breakdown

Booths have been divided into three parts: central, north and south.

The ALP won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in the centre (56.8%) and the north (65.5%). The Liberal Party managd a narrow 50.6% majority in the south.

The Nick Xenophon Team came third, with a primary vote ranging from 14.1% in the south to 18.6% in the north.

Election results in Hindmarsh at the 2016 federal election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and Nick Xenophon Team primary votes.

Become a Patron!