Bendigo West is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. It is a electorate centred on the city of Bendigo west of the

Yungera railway line The Piangil railway line is a 5 ft 3 in gauge (1600 mm) railway line in north-western Victoria, Australia. It branches off the Deniliquin line just north of Bendigo, and runs in a north-westerly direction through Pyramid Hill and Keran ...

, and including surrounding rural towns to the west and south-west. It encompasses the localities of Bendigo City, California Gully, Castlemaine, Harcourt, Long Gully,

Maldon Maldon (, locally ) is a town and civil parish on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon District and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. It is known for Maldon Sea Salt which is produced ...

, Marong, Newstead and

West Bendigo West Bendigo is a suburb of the regional city of Bendigo in north central Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British C ...

. It also includes parts of the Bendigo suburbs of

Eaglehawk The wedge-tailed eagle (''Aquila audax'') is the largest bird of prey in the continent of Australia. It is also found in southern New Guinea to the north and is distributed as far south as the state of Tasmania. Adults of this species have lon ...

Golden Square Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and sou ...

and Kangaroo Flat. It lies within the

Northern Victoria Region Northern Victoria Region is one of the eight electoral regions of Victoria, Australia, which elects five members to the Victorian Legislative Council (also referred to as the upper house) by proportional representation. The region was created i ...

of the upper house, the Legislative Council. Bendigo West has generally been a safe seat for the Labor parties throughout its history. It was created in 1904, when it was won by Labor candidate David Smith by 18 votes. Smith was re-elected several times, but was expelled from the party in 1911 over his support for introducing scripture lessons into state schools. He sat as an independent until the Labor Party split of 1917, when he joined Billy Hughes' rival

National Labor Party The National Labor Party was formed by Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes in 1916, following the 1916 Labor split on the issue of World War I conscription in Australia. Hughes had taken over as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Pr ...

, which subsequently became the

Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party, also known as the National Party, was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the latter formed by Prime Min ...

. Smith did not contest the 1924 election, and the seat returned to the Labor fold, being won by Arthur Cook. The seat was merged with

Bendigo East Bendigo East is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. It covers an area of covering the part of the city of Bendigo east of the Yungera railway line and surrounding rural areas to the north, ...

in 1927, with Cook going on to serve as the member for Bendigo. The electorate was recreated as a separate district in 1985, when it was won by former federal MP David Kennedy. Kennedy was defeated by Liberal Max Turner amidst the Liberal landslide win at the 1992 state election, but Turner lasted only one term before being defeated by Labor candidate Bob Cameron in 1996. Cameron was comfortably re-elected in 1999, 2002, and 2006, and left a margin of more than 10% for

Maree Edwards Janice Maree Edwards (born 2 February 1962) is an Australian politician. She has been the member for Bendigo West in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2010. Edwards has a BA (Hons) from La Trobe University, Bendigo. Edwards was firs ...

to defend at the 2010 election. He served as Minister for Emergency Services in the

Brumby A brumby is a free-roaming feral horse in Australia. Although found in many areas around the country, the best-known brumbies are found in the Australian Alps region. Today, most of them are found in the Northern Territory, with the second ...

government.

Members for Bendigo West

Election results

External links

Electorate profile: Bendigo West District, Victorian Electoral Commission

References

Electoral districts of Victoria (Australia) 1904 establishments in Australia 1927 disestablishments in Australia 1985 establishments in Australia Bendigo Mount Alexander Shire {{VictoriaAU-gov-stub