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THE POLL BLUDGER BALLARAT
Ballarat has existed since federation (the now obsolete spelling Ballaarat was used until 1977), and has been keenly contested for most of its history. The inaugural member was Alfred Deakin, who held the seat until his retirement in 1913 when it was first won by Labor. In modern times it has changed hands in 1980, when John Mildren gained it for Labor from the Liberals' Jim Short (who returned in the Senate in 1984), in 1990 when Mildren was defeated by Liberal candidate Michael Ronaldson, and with Richardson's initial retirement at the 2001 election (he too would later return as a Senator). It was then the only seat in the country to fall to Labor, who had been boosted by the withdrawal in acrimonious circumstances of their initial candidate, Olympic gold medal trap shooter Russell Mark. The winning candidate was Catherine King, a former health administrator and senior manager at KPMG Consulting, who picked up a 5.5 per cent swing and survived a 1.1 per cent shift the other way in 2004. | |