Evelyn – Victoria 2014

LIB 12.6%

Incumbent MP
Christine Fyffe, since 2006. Previously Member for Evelyn 1999-2002.

Geography
Eastern fringe of Melbourne. Evelyn includes the suburbs of Chirnside Park, Coldstream, Gruyere, Lilydale, Wandin North and parts of Mooroolbark, Mount Evelyn and Seville. Almost all of the electorate lies in western parts of Yarra Ranges Shire.

Redistribution
No changes were made to Evelyn’s northern or eastern boundaries. Evelyn lost Wonga Park on its western boundary to Warrandyte, and gaining parts of Mooroolbark from Kilsyth on the southern boundary. These changes cut the Liberal margin from 13.5% to 12.6%.

History
Evelyn has existed as an electoral district since 1859. It has been held by the Liberal Party and its conservative predecessors for most elections since the emergence of modern political parties.

Evelyn was held by Ewen Cameron from 1874 to 1914. He held the seat first as a Conservative, and joined the Commonwealth Liberal Party. The Liberal Party’s James Rouget held the seat for one term, but was defeated in 1917 by William Everard, a conservative independent.

Everard held the seat until 1950, representing the Nationals, the United Australia Party and the Liberal Party, and again serving as an independent MP in the 1920s. Everard served as Speaker for one term in the 1930s, and briefly served as a minister in 1945.

Liberal MP Roland Leckie held the seat for one term from 1950 to 1952, losing to the ALP’s Phillip Connell. He held the seat for two terms, losing in 1958 to Russell Stokes of the Liberal Party.

Stokes held the seat for fifteen years, retiring in 1973.

The Liberal Party’s Jim Plowman won Evelyn in 1973. He served as Speaker from 1979 to 1982, and again from 1996 to 1999. He also served as a minister in the first term of the Kennett government. Plowman lost Evelyn in 1982 to the ALP’s Max McDonald. He won Evelyn back in 1985, and held it until his retirement in 1999.

Evelyn was won in 1999 by Christine Fyffe. She lost to the ALP’s Heather McTaggart in 2002, but won Evelyn back in 2006. Fyffe was re-elected in 2010. Fyffe served as Deputy Speaker from 2010 to 2014, and has served as Speaker since February 2014.

Candidates

1. Glenn Williams (Country Alliance)
2. Christine Fyffe (Liberal)
3. Anthony McAleer (Independent)
4. Sandra Betts (Greens)
5. Peter Harris (Labor)
6. Damien de Pyle (Australian Christians)
7. Lawrence Mobsby (Independent)

Assessment
Evelyn is a reasonably safe Liberal seat.

2010 election result

2010 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown
Booths in Evelyn have been divided into three parts: east, west and central. The ‘Central’ area largely covers the suburb of Lilydale.

The Liberal Party won a two-party-preferred majority in all three areas, all around 62%.