Western Province (Victoria)

Western Province was an electorate of the Victorian Legislative Council (Australia), the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria.[1] Victoria was a colony in Australia when Western Province was created. From Federation in 1901, Victoria was a state in the Commonwealth of Australia.

Western Province Victoria—Legislative Council
Western Province, 1856
State	Victoria
Created	1856
Abolished	2006
Demographic	Rural

Western Province was one of the six original upper house Provinces of the bi-cameral Victorian Parliament created in November 1856.[2]

Western Province was defined in the Victorian Constitution Act, 1855, as : "Including the Counties of Ripon, Hampden, Heytesbury, Villiers, Normanby, Dundas, and Follett."[3]

In 1882, several new Provinces were created, including Nelson Province and Wellington Province, the numbers of members elected for Western Province was reduced to three from this time.[4] Another redistribution in 1904 reduced the number of members to two.[5]

In 2006, the Western Province (along with all the other provinces in the Legislative Council) was abolished and replaced by regions. All of the area covered by Western Province is contained in the larger Western Victoria Region.[6]

Members for Western Province

Five members initially[3] until 1882.[4] Three from 1882 until 1904,[5] then two members from 1904 until abolition in 2006.

Member 1		Party	Year	Member 2		Party	Member 3		Party	Member 4		Party	Member 5		Party
	Stephen Henty		1856		Charles Vaughan			James Palmer			Andrew Cruikshank			Daniel Tierney
			1858								Henry Miller
			1858
			1859											Niel Black
			1860
			1862
			1864		Charles Sladen
			1864
			1866								James Strachan
			1866
			1868		Robert Simson
			1870					Thomas McKellar
	William Skene		1870
			1872
			1874								Thomas Bromell
			1875					Samuel Wilson
	Charles Sladen		1876
			1878		William Ross
			1880											Robert Simson
			1880
			1881					Thomas Cumming
	Nathan Thornley		1882
			1884
			1886
			1888		Samuel Cooke
			1888					Agar Wynne
			1890
			1892
			1894
			1896
			1898
			1900
			1901		Walter Manifold
			1902
	Robert Ritchie		1903
			1903					Alexander MacLeod
			1904
	Edward White		1907
			1910
			1913
			1916
		Nationalist	1917			Nationalist
			1919
			1922
			1924		Marcus Saltau	Nationalist
			1925
			1928
	William Williamson	Independent	1931
			1931			United Australia
			1934
	Leonard Rodda^[r]	Country	1937
			1940		Robert Rankin	Country
			1943
	Leonard Rodda	Country	1943
			1945
			1946
	Hugh MacLeod	Independent	1946
		Liberal and Country	1949			Liberal and Country
			1949
		Electoral Reform	1952
			1952		David Arnott	Labor
	Ronald Mack	Liberal and Country	1955
			1958		Kenneth Gross	Liberal and Country
			1961
			1964
		Liberal	1965			Liberal
			1967
	Clive Mitchell	Country	1968
			1970
	Digby Crozier	Liberal	1973
			1976		Bruce Chamberlain	Liberal
			1979
			1982
	Roger Hallam	National	1985
			1988
			1992
			1996
			1999
	David Koch	Liberal	2002		John Vogels	Liberal

^[r] Rodda resigned in July 1943, re-elected in October 1943

Election results

2002 Victorian state election: Western Province

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	John Vogels	56,497	40.0	+32.5
	Labor	Lesley Jackson	54,815	38.8	+0.8
	National	Greg Walcott	20,142	14.3	-34.9
	Greens	Viola Spokes	9,823	7.0	+7.0
Total formal votes			141,277	96.8	-0.8
Informal votes			4,611	3.2	+0.8
Turnout			145,888	94.9
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	John Vogels	76,772	54.3	-4.7
	Labor	Lesley Jackson	64,505	45.7	+4.7
	Liberal hold		Swing	-4.7

References

1. "Re-Member (Former Members)". State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 3 May 2013.
2. Edward Sweetman (1920). Constitutional Development of Victoria, 1851-6. Whitcombe & Tombs Limited. p. 182. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
3. "Victoria Constitution Act 1855" (PDF). Retrieved 5 May 2013.
4. "The Legislative Council Act 1881". Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
5. "Electoral Provinces Boundaries Act 1903". Australasian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
6. "Western Victoria Region profile". Victorian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 June 2013.