Benalla was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Victoria. The electorate covered a rural area of 17,120 km², and included the towns of Benalla, Bright, Eildon, Euroa, Mansfield, Mount Beauty, Murchison, Myrtleford, Nagambie and Violet Town. The electorate had a population of 47,675 as of the 2006 census, with 36,987 enrolled electors in the 2010 state election.
The seat was created in 1904. Historically a staunchly conservative rural district, it was held by conservative members for most of its history. It was held by various early conservative parties throughout the early 20th century, but became safe for the rural conservative National Party, which held the seat for all but nine years from 1920 to 2000.
This trend was briefly and unexpectedly broken in a 2000 by-election caused by the resignation of long-time National Party leader and former Deputy Premier Pat McNamara. In a major upset, Denise Allen became the first Labor member ever to win it. The seat's conservative nature, however, reasserted itself when Bill Sykes regained the seat for the Nationals at the 2002 election despite a landslide Labor victory which devastated the conservative parties across the state.
The seat reverted to form in the 2006 election, and Sykes held it without serious difficulty until his retirement after the 2014 election. Benalla was abolished at the same time, and was largely replaced with Euroa.
Members for Benalla Member Party Term John Carlisle Liberal 1904–1909 Deakinite Liberal 1909–1917 Economy 1917–1918 Nationalist 1918–1920 Farmers Union 1920 Country 1920–1926 Independent 1926–1927 Edward Cleary Country Progressive 1927–1930 Country 1930–1936 Frederick Cook Independent 1936–1939 Liberal Country 1939–1943 Country 1943–1961 Tom Trewin Country 1961–1975 National Country 1975–1982 Pat McNamara National 1982–2000 Denise Allen Labor 2000–2002 Bill Sykes National 2002–2014
Election results
References
External links Benalla District profile, Victorian Electoral Commission