The Division of Lalor ( ) is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. Located in the south-western suburbs of Melbourne in the City of Wyndham, it includes the south-western hub of Werribee as well as the suburbs of Hoppers Crossing, Tarneit, Truganina, Wyndham Vale and part of Point Cook.

At 9.0%, Lalor has the nation's highest proportion of children aged under 4 years old. It has the nation's lowest proportion of residents aged 65 and over (7.0%), is sixth highest nationally for families being couples with dependent children (44.4%), and has the sixth highest rate of residents purchasing their own homes (49.3%).

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.

When the division was created in 1949, it replaced a majority of the Division of Corio, effectively splitting the latter into the Lalor and a much smaller Corio. It also replaced some eastern parts of the Division of Ballaarat at the Macedon Ranges, and western parts of the Division of Deakin around the Hume Highway. The division covered the western and northern parts of Melbourne, including Werribee, Altona, Sunshine, Essendon Airport, Broadmeadows, Thomastown, Epping and the division's namesake Lalor. It also covered a large area west and north outside Melbourne, and included towns such as Lara, Bacchus Marsh, Melton, Kyneton, Gisborne, Sunbury, Lancefield, Kilmore, Wallan and Seymour. In 1955, it lost Lara to the Division of Corio, Bacchus Marsh to the Division of Ballaarat, and Kyneton and Seymour to the Division of Bendigo. However, it gained the Whittlesea, Doreen and Kinglake West areas from the Division of Deakin.

In 1968, the division repeated what had happened to its predecessor (Corio) twenty years prior. The division was significant shrunk in size, and areas were replaced by the new Division of Burke, an expanded Division of Bendigo, and to a smaller extent, the new Division of Diamond Valley. This meant Lalor was effectively split Lalor into Burke, Bendigo, Diamond Valley and a smaller Lalor:

  • the division of Bendigo was expanded to cover the northern one-third of Lalor, and included the towns along Calder Highway and Hume Highway such as Gisborne and Kilmore
  • the reduced division of Lalor only covered its southern one-third in the western and south-western suburbs of Melbourne (City of Sunshine and Shires of Altona and Werribee). This included Sunshine, St Albans and Werribee. As a result, the division of Lalor also no longer included the suburb of Lalor. Labor retook the seat easily and has since held it without difficulty.

It has been held by a succession of senior Labor members: Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia from 2010 to 2013; Barry Jones, former minister for science under Bob Hawke and Labor national president; and Jim Cairns, former treasurer and deputy prime minister under Gough Whitlam. As Gillard was deputy prime minister prior to becoming prime minister, Lalor is therefore the only federal electorate to have been held by two deputy prime ministers.

The current member for Lalor since the 2013 election is Joanne Ryan.

Members

{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"

|-

! colspan=2 | Image

! Member

! Party

! Term

! Notes

|-

| | 

| 100px

| Reg Pollard<br>

| Labor

| nowrap | 10 December 1949 –<br/>26 November 1966

| Previously held the Division of Ballaarat. Lost seat

|-

| |&nbsp;

| 100px

| Mervyn Lee<br>

| Liberal

| nowrap | 26 November 1966 –<br/>25 October 1969

| Did not contest in 1969. Failed to win the Division of Bendigo

|-

| |&nbsp;

| 100px

| Jim Cairns<br>

| rowspan="4" | Labor

| nowrap | 25 October 1969 –<br/>10 November 1977

| Previously held the Division of Yarra. Served as minister and deputy prime minister under Whitlam. Retired

|-

| |&nbsp;

| 100px

| Barry Jones<br>

| nowrap | 10 December 1977 –<br/>31 August 1998

| Previously held the Victorian Legislative Assembly seat of Melbourne. Served as minister under Hawke. Retired

|-

| |&nbsp;

| 100px

| Julia Gillard<br>

| nowrap | 3 October 1998 –<br/>5 August 2013

| Served as minister and deputy prime minister under Rudd. Served as prime minister from 2010 to 2013. Retired

|-

| |&nbsp;

| 100px

| Joanne Ryan<br>

| nowrap | 7 September 2013 –<br/>present

| Incumbent. Currently serving as Chief Government Whip in the House under Albanese

|}

Election results

References

  • Division of Lalor - Australian Electoral Commission