Ripon (Key Seat)

Western Victoria

Marginal Liberal 0.8%

Post-Election Margin: Liberal 0.02%

MP

Louise Staley (Liberal) since 2014.

Profile

The electorate of Ripon is a rural electorate covering 16,761 square kilometres to the west of Ballarat and Bendigo. Major population centres include Creswick, Ararat, Maryborough, Avoca, Donald, Bridgewater, St Arnaud and Stawell. (Map)

Background Ripon was first contested at the 1945 election and was held by Labor for seven of the ten years before it was abolished in 1955. Re-created in 1976, Ripon was held by senior Liberals Tom Austin 1976-1992 and then Stephen Elder from 1991 until his defeat at the 1999 election.



The 7.6% swing in Ripon that elected Labor's Joe Helper in 1999 was replicated across central Victoria and was responsible for the defeat of the Kennett government. After his first victory, Helper was comfortably re-elected at both the 2002 and 2006 elections, and even kept the swing against him down to just 1.6% on the defeat of the Brumby government in 2010.



Helper retired at the 2014 election, the same election at which new electoral boundaries turned Ripon into a notional Liberal seat. Four Labor seats became notional Liberal seats as a result of the 2012-13 redistribution. Of those four seat, Ripon was the only seat not defended by a sitting Labor member, and the only where the Liberal Party turned a notional majority into victory with the election of Louise Staley.

Past Election Results Year Winning Party 1976 LIB 1979 LIB 1982 LIB 1985 LIB 1988 LIB 1992 LIB 1996 LIB 1999 ALP 2002 ALP 2006 ALP 2010 ALP 2014 LIB Coloured tab indicates seat won by a party forming government

Polling Place Results 2014 There were 44 polling places used at the 2014 election, 14 recording Labor majorities and 30 Liberal majorities, the Liberal vote rising from 35.2% at Clunes Primary School north of Ballarat, to 88.3% at Litchfield Hall west of Donald.



(Click on polling place for more detail of result.)

Past Results An electorate that was once solidly on the Liberal side of the state's electoral ledger has become stronger for Labor since 1999. From 1999 to 2006, Labor's result in Ripon hugged Labor's statewide vote, while in 2010, the popularity of MP Joe Helper saw Ripon record one of the smallest anti-Labor swings.



The 201/13 redistribution pushed Ripon on to the Liberal side of the political ledger and Labor was unable to recover the seat with the retirement of Joe Helper.



Ripon Results 1985-2014

Candidates Jeff Truscott Former Family First and Rise Up Australia candidate. Bronwyn Jennings VICTORIAN SOCIALISTS Jennings is a member of the Australian Education Union. Website Anna Hills ANIMAL JUSTICE PARTY 20 year-old Hills has lived in Ballarat since 2001. She became involved in the animal rights movement through the Animal Justice Party and the Ballarat Animal Advocates Association. Website Louise Staley LIBERAL Staley has worked as a portfolio manager, equities researcher, grain broker and was Director of the Food and Environment Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs where she specialised in food policy issues and rural regulation. She and her partner also previously ran a cereals, oilseeds and sheep property at Willaura. Staley was also a non-Executive Director of Federation Square, Networking Health Victoria, Grampians Medicare Local and East Grampians Health Service. She is a former Vice-President of the Victorian Liberal Party. Website Sarah De Santis AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY De Santis has owned property in Beaufort since 2016 and previously worked on the staff of local Federal MP Catherine King. Website Peter Fava SHOOTERS, FISHERS AND FARMERS VIC Website Serge Simic AUSTRALIAN GREENS 37 year-old Simic came to Australia as a refugee from Sarajevo. He arrived in Australia in 1998 after spending several years in Germany after escaping the Yugoslavian civil war. In Australia he completed his schooling and worked in construction and mining. A love of nature saw him leave the mining industry and move to central Victoria where he became an organic farmer in Blampied. Website