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THE POLL BLUDGER BRUCE
The western Melbourne seat of Bruce extended far beyond the city limits when it was created in 1955, going east and south as far as Cranbourne and Berwick, but suburban expansion soon drew it into to its base of Glen Waverley. The 2004 redistribution pulled it southwards into Dandenong North, adding 1.0 per cent to the Labor margin. Bruce was created in 1955 and held by the Liberals until 1996, when it became a Labor seat with the addition of Noble Park and Dandenong North in the south, putting Glen Waverley at its far northern end. The inaugural member was newcomer Billy Snedden, who went on to lead the party from December 1972 to March 1975. Ken Aldred succeeded Snedden when he retired after the 1983 election, returning to parliament after losing his since-abolished seat of Henty in 1980. Julian Beale defeated Aldred for Liberal preselection in 1990 after his seat of Deakin was made notionally Labor by a redistribution; Aldred ran for Deakin instead, and won it on the back of a statewide backlash against Labor. Beale was forced to stand and fight when a second unfavourable redistribution was visited upon him at the 1996 election, pitting him against Labor's member for the abolished seat of Corinella, Alan Griffin. Requiring 1.6 per cent to retain his seat, Beale could only manage 0.8 per cent. After a big swing to Labor in 1998, Bruce returned to the marginal zone in 2004 with a 3.0 per cent shift to the Liberals. | |