The Division of Canberra is 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 townships. I ...

. It is named for the city of Canberra, Australia's national capital, and includes all of central Canberra,

Kowen The Kowen District was designated by the Districts Act of 1966 as one of the 18 districts of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It is situated in the northeast corner of the ACT, to the east of Sutton Road and the town of Queanbeyan, New S ...

, Majura, as well as part of

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

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

Molonglo Valley The District of Molonglo Valley is one of the nineteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration, and the only district that was not created in 1966. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections a ...

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 ...

, and Jerrabomberra. It is currently held by

Alicia Payne Alicia Emma Payne (born 24 July 1982) is an Australian politician who has been a member of the House of Representatives since the 2019 federal election. She is a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and represents the Division of Canberra ...

of the Labor Party.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state or territory, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state or territory's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state or territory are malapportioned. As of 2018, the division of Canberra includes

Canberra Central The District of Canberra Central is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration consisting of both the districts of North Canberra and South Canberra. The district is subdivided into di ...

, the

suburbs of Curtin, Chifley, Garran and Hughes, the

suburbs of Aranda,

Bruce The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been ...

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

, Giralang,

Hawker Hawker or Hawkers may refer to: Places * Hawker, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Hawker, South Australia, a town * Division of Hawker, an Electoral Division in South Australia * Hawker Island, Princess Elizabeth Land, Antarct ...

Kaleen Kaleen ( or ) is a suburb in the Belconnen district of Canberra, located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The suburb's name means ‘water’ in the language of the Wiradjuri Aboriginal tribe of the central west region of New ...

, Lawson and Weetangera, the Jerrabomberra suburbs of

Beard A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, usually pubescent or adult males are able to grow beards. Throughout the course of history, societal at ...

and

Oaks Estate Oaks Estate is a township situated immediately on the northern side of the Australian Capital Territory border abutting the township of Queanbeyan in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. The estate covers an area of approximately 40 hectares ...

and the districts of Majura and

History

The division was created in a redistribution of the former Division of Australian Capital Territory, gazetted on 19 April 1974. It originally encompassed the southern suburbs of Canberra, including the districts of

Tuggeranong The District of Tuggeranong () is one of the original eighteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks and is the southernmost town cent ...

and

. It also generally included the land in the ACT south 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 some suburbs in the inner south of the lake were includes in the now abolished division of Fraser. Later the division included Reid and

Campbell Campbell may refer to: People Surname * Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell Given name * Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer * Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...

and prior to the 2018 redistribution, it included

Civic Civic is something related to a city or municipality. It also can refer to multiple other things: General *Civics, the science of comparative government *Civic engagement, the connection one feels with their larger community *Civic center, a comm ...

, Acton,

Turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters *Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for turni ...

south of

Haig Park Haig Park is a park in the suburbs of Braddon and Turner in Canberra, Australia. It lies on either side of Northbourne Avenue. The park is named to honour Earl Haig, the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Forces during the First ...

and east of

Sullivans Creek Sullivans Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Location and features Sullivans Creek rises close to the border betwee ...

, Braddon south of Haig Park, Reid, Campbell and Pialligo. From 2016, the division included Norfolk Island. In 2018, the

announced substantial alterations to the boundaries of the electorate, due to the creation of a new seat (the

Division of Bean The Division of Bean is an electoral division for the Australian House of Representatives in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) and Norfolk Island, which was created in 2018 and contested for the first time at the 2019 federal election. G ...

) covering the majority of the Australian Capital Territory, centred on its south, as well as Norfolk Island. The new Division of Canberra only covers Canberra's inner suburbs, Majura and

in the Territory's north-east, the

suburbs of Aranda,

, Giralang,

, Lawson and Weetangera, and parts of Woden Valley north of

Hindmarsh Drive Hindmarsh Drive is a major arterial road in the southern suburbs of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It is named after John Hindmarsh, first Governor of South Australia. The road forms the major east to west link through the Woden Valle ...

. For most of its history it has been a fairly 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 ...

, but it has been won by the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

twice, most recently at a 1995 by-election. In recent elections, the Australian Greens vote has increased steadily, with the party being only just under 4,000 votes of surpassing the Liberal Party on primary vote to enter the two-party preferred vote. In particular, the Greens came second on primary vote in 12 booths at the 2019 federal election, and won in two booths (Dickson East and Canberra City). However, the Labor Party retains a vote almost double that of the Greens in the electorate.

Members

Election results

References

External links

Division of Canberra - Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canberra, Division of Electoral divisions of Australia Constituencies established in 1974 1974 establishments in Australia