ALP 19.3%
Incumbent MP
Maria Vamvakinou, since 2001.
Geography
Outer northern suburbs of Melbourne. Calwell’s boundaries are almost coterminous with Hume council area. It includes the suburbs of Broadmeadows, Craigieburn, Sunbury and Tullamarine.
History
Calwell was created for the expansion of the House of Representatives in 1984. It has always been a safe Labor seat.
The seat was first won in 1984 by Andrew Theophanous. Theophanous had previously held Burke since 1980. He served as a Parliamentary Secretary in the final term of the Labor government from 1993 to 1996. He came under fire for allegations of migration fraud. He resigned from the ALP in 2000 and served out his term as an independent, losing in 2001. He later served time in prison.
Calwell was won in 2001 by Maria Vamvakinou, and she has held the seat ever since.
Candidates
- Lenka Thompson (Greens)
- Peter Byrne (Socialist Equality Party)
- Jeff Truscott (Family First)
- Maria Vamvakinou (Labor)
- Wayne Tseng (Liberal)
Political situation
Calwell is very safe for the ALP.
2007 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Maria Vamvakinou | ALP | 51,952 | 60.22 | +10.21 |
| Dianne Livett | LIB | 22,906 | 26.55 | -10.62 |
| Brook Shaune | GRN | 3,761 | 4.36 | -0.90 |
| Arthur Buller | FF | 3,747 | 4.34 | +1.98 |
| Sleiman Yohanna | CEC | 1,817 | 2.11 | -0.09 |
| Vanessa Musolino | DEM | 799 | 0.93 | -0.56 |
| Philip Cutler | IND | 624 | 0.72 | +0.72 |
| Don Hampshire | IND | 391 | 0.45 | +0.45 |
| Frank Gaglioti | SEP | 273 | 0.32 | +0.32 |
2007 two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Maria Vamvakinou | ALP | 59,807 | 69.33 | +11.14 |
| Dianne Livett | LIB | 26,463 | 30.67 | -11.14 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Calwell have been divided into four areas. The ALP won a majority in all four areas, but these vary dramatically. The ALP won with less than 57% in the remote Sunbury area. The more populated east of the seat is divided into three areas. The ALP polled 63.7% in the Tullamarine-Greenvale area, 74.6% in Craigieburn in the northeast of the seat and over 83% in the Broadmeadows area.
Polling booths in Calwell. Sunbury in red, Craigieburn in blue, Broadmeadows in green, Tullamarine-Greenvale in yellow.
| Voter group | GRN % | ALP 2CP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Tullamarine-Greenvale | 4.06 | 63.68 | 18,340 | 21.26 |
| Broadmeadows | 4.24 | 83.16 | 18,075 | 20.95 |
| Craigieburn | 3.35 | 74.57 | 17,922 | 20.77 |
| Sunbury | 5.28 | 56.92 | 15,242 | 17.67 |
| Other votes | 5.05 | 66.24 | 16,691 | 19.35 |
Results of the 2007 federal election in Calwell.
Two interesting things I managed to glean from this… yep, I’m really trying.
(1) Why have I never heard of Maria Vamvakinou, in parliament for the last decade, before I read this page? I even had to copy/paste her name.
(2) The CEC got a stellar vote, by their low standards. They tend to come last in any seat they contest, but here they got 2% and beat the odds ‘n’ sods. Family First very narrowly failed to beat the Greens, 4.6% each. Does that say anything about the area, or did the CEC get the donkey vote?
I thought it might be possible the CEC was first and got the donkey vote, but no, that was Family First.
Their candidate was Iraqi. Maybe there’s a large Iraqi population in Calwell that voted for the familiar name?
@Ben – They also polled over 4% In Broadmeadows in 2006: http://www.vec.vic.gov.au/Results/state2006resultBroadmeadowsDistrict.html (and they didn’t have the donkey vote), so I think you’re right about local demographics helping them. He did well in the corresponding booths (he polled 10.10% in Broadmeadows North).
Maria Vamvakinou a former school teacher is a pretty good fit for the electorate post-war non Anglo migrant suburbia. Andrew Theophanous was a sad tale, vaguely Marxist pol sci academic turned Labor MP turned bitter and frustrated Labor MP turned…His books are actually good expressions of various orthodoxies
Vamvakinou makes a cameo appearance, and I thought of Bird of Paradox: http://inside.org.au/shoulder-deep-in-the-entrails/
This part of Melbourne seems to be the CEC’s best territory, and yes, there is a large Islamic population which may have helped the candidate too.
My prediction: Labor retain with a 2% swing to them.