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THE POLL BLUDGER MARIBYRNONG
Maribyrnong has covered a shifting area around Essendon in Melbourne's inner north-west since its creation in 1906, become increasingly oriented over time towards Sunshine and St Albans to the west. The seat was held by Labor for all but one term from the election of the Fisher government in 1910 and the party split of 1955, when preferences from the ALP (Anti-Communist) candidate delivered a 114-vote victory to Liberal candidate Philip Stokes. Stokes did well to hold the seat until his defeat in 1969 by Labor's Moss Cass, whose swings at the next two elections added enough fat to endure the winter of 1975 and 1977. In 1983 he bequeated a double digit margin to his successor Alan Griffiths, who enjoyed a 7.4 per cent boost when the 1990 redistribution added St Albans. Griffiths was succeeded in 1996 by Bob Sercombe, who chose to bow out at the current election rather than face preselection defeat by Australian Workers Union boy wonder Bill Shorten. | |