LIB 2.9%
Incumbent MP
Heidi Victoria, since 2006.
Geography
Eastern Melbourne. Bayswater covers northwestern parts of the City of Knox and southwestern parts of the City of Maroondah, specifically the suburbs of Bayswater and Heathmont and parts of Boronia, Knoxfield, Ringwood, Ringwood East, Vermont, Wantirna, and Wantirna South.
History
Bayswater was created in 1992, replacing the former seat of Ringwood. It was considered to be a notional Labor seat that year, but was won by the Liberal Party’s Gordon Ashley.
Ashley held the seat until 2002, when he was defeated by the ALP’s Peter Lockwood.
In 2006, the Liberal Party initially preselected Ashley to run against Lockwood again, but the preselection was overturned and he was replaced by Heidi Victoria. Ashley ran as an independent, and Victoria won the seat.
Candidates
- Sotiria Stratis (Sex Party)
- Ronald Prendergast (Democratic Labor Party)
- James Tennant (Greens)
- Gary Coombes (Family First)
- Heidi Victoria (Liberal)
- Peter Lockwood (Labor)
Politial situation
While Bayswater is a very marginal seat, it will probably remain in Liberal hands.
2006 result
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
Heidi Victoria | LIB | 13,162 | 41.09 | -3.04 |
Peter Lockwood | ALP | 11,563 | 36.10 | -9.61 |
Gordon Ashley | IND | 2,935 | 9.16 | +9.16 |
James Tennant | GRN | 2,526 | 7.89 | -2.27 |
Warwick Murphy | FF | 1,285 | 4.01 | +4.01 |
Stephanie Mortimer | PP | 334 | 1.04 | +1.04 |
Steve Raskovy | IND | 157 | 0.49 | +0.49 |
Kurt Beilharz | CEC | 67 | 0.21 | +0.21 |
2006 two-candidate-preferred result
Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
Heidi Victoria | LIB | 16,982 | 52.83 | +5.58 |
Peter Lockwood | ALP | 15,164 | 47.17 | -5.58 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Bayswater have been divided into four areas. Heathmont in the City of Maroondah and Wantirna, Bayswater and Boronia in the City of Knox.
The formerly Liberal independent polled most strongly in Heathmont and Boronia, while the Greens polled most strongly in Heathmont. While the Liberal Party won a majority in all areas, this ranged from 50.8% in Bayswater to 54.8% in Wantirna.
Voter group | IND % | GRN % | LIB 2CP % | Total votes | % of votes |
Heathmont | 12.01 | 9.66 | 52.42 | 7,594 | 23.62 |
Wantirna | 6.09 | 6.76 | 54.75 | 7,202 | 22.40 |
Bayswater | 9.69 | 5.97 | 50.77 | 5,562 | 17.30 |
Boronia | 11.88 | 6.79 | 51.23 | 4,550 | 14.15 |
Other votes | 7.14 | 9.31 | 53.92 | 7,238 | 22.52 |
Bayswater and Boronia are some of the less affluent parts of Knox, containing significant commercial and light industrial areas in contrast to the predominantly residential Wantirna and Wantirna South. You can also see the same divide in Maroondah Council (‘Heathmont’) between Heathmont itself in the south and more socially mixed Ringwood in the far north.
Interestingly, Ashley seemed to drain more votes off Labor than the Liberals, which often seems to be the way when an independent runs against their own party.
Candidates in ballot paper order are:
Sotiria Stratis – Sex Party
Ronald Prendergast – DLP
James Tennant – Greens
Gary Coombes – Family First
Heidi Victoria – Liberal
Peter Lockwood – Labor
LIB hold