Division of Denison

This article is about the federal electorate. For the state electorate, see Division of Denison (state).

Denison Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Denison in Tasmania, as of the 2016 federal election
Created	1903
Abolished	2019
Namesake	Sir William Denison
Electors	74,963 (2016)
Area	288 km2 (111.2 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner metropolitan

The Division of Denison was an Australian electoral division in Tasmania, before being replaced by the Division of Clark as part of a 2016–17 redistribution.

History

Sir William Denison, the division's namesake

The division was one of the five established when the former Division of Tasmania was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir William Denison, who was Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land 1847–55. It was located in central Hobart on the western shore of the River Derwent. As at the 2016 election (the last election before being replaced by Clark), it incorporated the area covered by the Cities of Hobart and Glenorchy, together with the northern parts of Kingborough Council, including Taroona, generally north of the Huon Highway. kunanyi / Mount Wellington was a prominent physical feature in the division's west. Denison was a consistently marginal seat, but was held by the Australian Labor Party between 1987 and 2010 with little difficulty. Its most prominent members were Sir Philip Fysh, a member of the first federal Cabinet; Athol Townley, Minister for Defence in the Menzies Government; and Duncan Kerr, a minister in the Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments. Townley resigned in 1964 when he was named Ambassador to the United States, but he died before taking up the appointment. Another prominent member was independent MP Andrew Wilkie, elected at the 2010 election. Denison has had 16 different members, the second highest (together with Bendigo and Swan, and after Bass's 17) of any federal electorate.

Members

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Sir Philip Fysh (1835–1919)	Protectionist	16 December 1903 – 1906	Previously held the Division of Tasmania. Served as minister under Deakin. Retired
			Anti-Socialist	1906 – 26 May 1909
			Liberal	26 May 1909 – 19 February 1910
		William Laird Smith (1869–1942)	Labor	13 April 1910 – 14 November 1916	Served as minister under Hughes. Lost seat
			National Labor	14 November 1916 – 17 February 1917
			Nationalist	17 February 1917 – 16 December 1922
		David O'Keefe (1864–1943)	Labor	16 December 1922 – 14 November 1925	Previously a member of the Senate. Lost seat. Later elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Wilmot in 1934
		Sir John Gellibrand (1872–1945)	Nationalist	14 November 1925 – 17 November 1928	Lost seat
		Charles Culley (1877–1949)	Labor	17 November 1928 – 19 December 1931	Previously held the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison. Served as minister under Scullin. Lost seat. Later elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison in 1934
		Arthur Hutchin (1887–1965)	United Australia	19 December 1931 – 15 September 1934	Lost seat
		Gerald Mahoney (1892–1955)	Labor	15 September 1934 – 21 September 1940	Previously held the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison. Lost seat
		Arthur Beck (1892–1965)	United Australia	21 September 1940 – 21 August 1943	Lost seat
		Frank Gaha (1894–1966)	Labor	21 August 1943 – 31 October 1949	Previously a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council. Retired. Later elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison in 1950
		Athol Townley (1905–1963)	Liberal	10 December 1949 – 24 December 1963	Served as minister under Menzies. Died in office
		Adrian Gibson (1935–2015)		15 February 1964 – 29 September 1969	Retired
		Robert Solomon (1931–2024)		25 October 1969 – 2 December 1972	Lost seat
		John Coates (1944–)	Labor	2 December 1972 – 13 December 1975	Lost seat. Later elected to the Senate in 1980
		Michael Hodgman (1938–2013)	Liberal	13 December 1975 – 11 July 1987	Previously a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council. Served as minister under Fraser. Lost seat. Later elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison in 1992
		Duncan Kerr (1952–)	Labor	11 July 1987 – 19 July 2010	Served as minister under Keating. Retired
		Andrew Wilkie (1961–)	Independent	21 August 2010 – 11 April 2019	Transferred to the Division of Clark after Denison was abolished in 2019

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Denison

2016 Australian federal election: Denison

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Andrew Wilkie	29,372	44.07	+5.99
	Labor	Jane Austin	15,335	23.01	−1.74
	Liberal	Marcus Allan	13,267	19.90	−3.33
	Greens	Jen Brown	7,068	10.60	+2.68
	Christian Democrats	Amanda Excell	980	1.47	+1.47
	Democratic Labour	Wayne Williams	632	0.95	+0.10
Total formal votes			66,654	97.08	+1.30
Informal votes			2,002	2.92	−1.30
Turnout			68,656	92.82	−1.44
Notional two-party-preferred count
	Labor	Jane Austin	43,550	65.34	+6.43
	Liberal	Marcus Allan	23,104	34.66	−6.43
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Andrew Wilkie	45,176	67.78	+2.27
	Labor	Jane Austin	21,478	32.22	−2.27
	Independent hold		Swing	+2.27

External links

• Division of Denison – Australian Electoral Commission