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THE POLL BLUDGER BATMAN
Batman covers Melbourne's inner north-east from Northcote and Fairfield north through Thornbury, Preston and Reservoir to Bundoora, with the Merri and Darebin creeks forming most of the western and eastern boundaries. It has been a rock solid Labor seat since the party first won it in 1910, barring two interruptions: when the United Australia Party won it in the 1931 landslide, and when Labor member Sam Benson was expelled from the party in 1966 over his support for the Vietnam war. Benson was re-elected as an independent at the 1966 election on DLP and Liberal preferences and retired in 1969. The last close result was in 1977 when future Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe carried it by 3.4 per cent upon his debut, but it swung to Labor by 7.3 and 6.4 per cent at the next two elections and was made 7.8 per cent safer by the 1984 redistribution. Martin Ferguson, president of the ACTU since 1990, took over from Howe in 1996. | |