Wednesday, August 07, 2013

Who will win the seat of Corangamite?

from w
It's in Labour hands at present by a minute majority, though for years of was Conservative. I think Liberal might win it back this time. It's mainly rural people from south-west Victoria though a chunk of Geelong - over the Barwon River border was added to shift the balance.  (Our family lives in the area of Corio, up till now a very safe Labour seat, currently with a pleasant gentleman representing Corio who was at the Pacific Desk and now is in the front bench with a focus on Trade.When I did the ABC questionaire I came out as 70% Green which is interesting.)
From SBS.

Snapshot: Corangamite - Australia's most marginal seat
5 AUG 2013, 5:00 PM   -   SOURCE: SBS STAFF
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Take a look at the nation's most marginal seat, Corangamite, in the south-western corner of Victoria.   CORANGAMITE (Labor 0.5%)
Corangamite is one of the original 75 divisions contested at the nation's very first federal election in 1901. The electorate is named after Lake Corangamite, which is derived from the Aboriginal word for "bitter", a refence to the lake's salt content. 

Corangamite was a marginal seat until 1930, switching between the likes of the Protectionist Party, Country Party and United Australia Party. The seat shifted hands to the newly-formed Liberal Party between the 1940s and 1990s, but more contemporary redistributions and demographic changes have seen the seat held by Labor on increasingly slim margins since 2007.
The electorate's hub of Geelong has made headlines after the closure of major car manufacturing plants and significant job losses.
GEOGRAPHY


The division sits in the south-western corner of Victoria and is home to iconic tourist attractions such as the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles. A large rural shire, Corangamite is characterised by rugged coastline, rainforest and lakes areas as well as pastoral lands.
http://media.sbs.com.au/news/upload_media/4077_corangamite-map-05082013-aec-l.jpgMain industries include primary production (beef, dairy, sheep), manufacturing, tourism and retail. 

The division stretches from Skipton in the north, covering Meredith, Ocean Grove, Geelong, Colac, Lorne and Apollo Bay in the south. Most of the seat's voters live in Geelong.
 

PEOPLE

Most of the division's population was born in Australia (84%), with the largest overseas-born community arriving from the United Kingdom (5%), according to 2011 census data. Each year, the seat hosts the annual
 Robert Burns Scottish Festival. The medium age of voters is 41 years and the average household size consists of 2.5 people. The largest proportion of the Corangamite electorate consists of two parent families with children under the age of 15 (25%). 

In the electorate's hub of Geelong, most households (12.1%) earn between $78,000-$103,999 annually, which matches the national average.  
CONTENDERS
The seat is currently held by Labor MP Darren Cheeseman, who is running for re-election against the Liberal Party's Sarah Henderson. The two faced each other in the 2010 election, with Mr Cheeseman winning on the nation's slimmest margin after a swing of 0.44% to the Liberal Party. Labor's Darren Cheeseman is running with a jobs plan for Geelong, saying employment would be the biggest issue in the election campaign. He is also pledging upgrades to school infrastructure and education programs as part of Labor's broader Gonski reforms. The Liberal's Sarah Henderson has outlined policy commitments around infrastructure upgrades, including a $1.5 billion highway upgrade for Geelong commuters as well as $50 million to improve the Great Ocean Road and boost the tourism sector.



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