The Division of Fraser was an Australian Electoral Division in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding township#Aust ...

and the

Jervis Bay Territory The Jervis Bay Territory (; JBT) is an internal territory of Australia. It was established in 1915 from part of New South Wales (NSW), in order to give the landlocked Australian Capital Territory (ACT) access to the sea. It was administered ...

History

The division was created in a redistribution of the former

Division of Australian Capital Territory The Division of Australian Capital Territory was an Australian electoral division in the Territory of the same name. The division was created in 1949 and included the whole of the city of Canberra and surrounding rural areas. Prior to 1949, t ...

, gazetted on 19 April 1974. It was named for Jim Fraser, who was the Member for Australian Capital Territory from 1951 to 1970. It encompassed the northern suburbs of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, including the districts of

Belconnen The District of Belconnen () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), used in land administration. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. The district of Belconn ...

Gungahlin The District of Gungahlin () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The Gungahlin Region is one of fastest growing regions within Australia. The district is subdivided into div ...

North Canberra North Canberra, also known as the Inner North, is a district of Canberra, the capital city of Australia, comprising 14 suburbs. At the , it had 26,699 dwellings housing 61,188 people of the 453,324 people in the Australian Capital Territory. Ma ...

and also the

. It also generally included the land in the ACT north of the

Molonglo River The Molonglo River, a perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia. ...

and

Lake Burley Griffin Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Wal ...

, although at one time it included some suburbs in the inner south and immediately prior to its abolition it had lost Reid and Campbell to the

division of Canberra The Division of Canberra is an Australian electoral division in the Australian Capital Territory. It is named for the city of Canberra, Australia's national capital, and includes all of central Canberra, Kowen, Majura, as well as part of West ...

. It was always a safe seat for the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

. The Australian Electoral Commission decided that, with effect from the 2016 election, the seat name would be changed to Fenner, to honour scientist

Frank Fenner Frank John Fenner (21 December 1914 – 22 November 2010) was an Australian scientist with a distinguished career in the field of virology Virology is the scientific study of biological viruses. It is a subfield of microbiology that focus ...

. The name change was due to plans by the AEC to name a seat in Victoria after former prime minister

Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser (; 21 May 1930 – 20 March 2015) was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, holding office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Fraser was raised on hi ...

. The proposed name change met with opposition from a number of ACT residents. For instance, former ACT Chief Minister

Jon Stanhope Jonathan Donald Stanhope (born 29 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assemb ...

said that the name change "traduces" the legacy of Fraser, a man "close to the heart of Canberrans." He also claimed that Fenner himself would have objected to the proposal.

Members

Election results

References

External links

Division of Fraser – Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Division of Former electoral divisions of Australia Constituencies established in 1974 Constituencies disestablished in 2016 1974 establishments in Australia 2016 disestablishments in Australia