The Division of Denison was an Australian electoral division in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, before being replaced by the Division of Clark as part of a 2016–17 redistribution.

History

The division was one of the five established when the former

Division of Tasmania The Division of Tasmania was an Australian electoral division covering Tasmania. The five-member statewide seat existed from the inaugural 1901 election until the 1903 election. Each elector cast one vote. Unlike most of the other states, Ta ...

was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir William Denison, who was

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a sep ...

1847–55. It was located in central

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/ Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

on the western shore of the River Derwent. As at the 2016 election (the last election before being replaced by Clark), it incorporated the area covered by the Cities of Hobart and Glenorchy, together with the northern parts of Kingborough Council, including

Taroona Taroona is a major residential suburb approximately 15 minutes drive from the centre of Hobart, Tasmania on the scenic route between Hobart and Kingston. Although on the edges of the City of Hobart, Taroona is actually part of the municipality ...

, generally north of the

Huon Highway The Huon Highway is an highway in southern Tasmania, Australia. The highway forms part of the A6 and connects Hobart with the southern parts of Tasmania. The original Huon Highway (now known as Huon Road) was a twisty two-lane road skirting ...

kunanyi / Mount Wellington Mount Wellington (officially kunanyi / Mount Wellington ()) is a mountain in the southeast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the summit of the Wellington Range and is within Wellington Park reserve. Hobart, Tasmania's capital city, is located a ...

was a prominent physical feature in the division's west. Denison was a consistently marginal seat, but was held by the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

between

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

and 2010 with little difficulty. Its most prominent members were Sir

Philip Fysh Sir Philip Oakley Fysh (1 March 1835 – 20 December 1919) was an English-born Australian politician. He arrived in Tasmania in 1859 and became a leading merchant in Hobart. He served two terms as premier of Tasmania (1877–1878, 1887–1892) ...

, a member of the first federal Cabinet;

Athol Townley Athol Gordon Townley (3 October 190524 December 1963) was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1949 until his death in 1963. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a minister in the Menzies Government fr ...

Minister for Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

in the Menzies Government; and

Duncan Kerr Duncan James Colquhoun Kerr, SC (born 26 February 1952) is a barrister. He is a former justice of the Federal Court of Australia. He also served as President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal from 2012 to 2017. Kerr was previously a pol ...

, a minister in the Keating,

Rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without any further qualifiers is also used for individual species, particularly the common rudd (''S. erythrophthalmus''). T ...

and Gillard governments. Townley resigned in 1964 when he was named

Ambassador to the United States The following table lists ambassadors to the United States, sorted by the representative country or organization. See also *Ambassadors of the United States Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve ...

, but he died before taking up the appointment. Another prominent member was

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

MP Andrew Wilkie, elected at the 2010 election. Denison has had 16 different members, the second highest (together with

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is a city in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2019, Bendigo had an urban populat ...

and

Swan Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Som ...

, and after Bass's 17) of any federal electorate.

Members

Election results

References

External links

Division of Denison – Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, Division of Former electoral divisions of Australia Constituencies established in 1903 Constituencies disestablished in 2019 1903 establishments in Australia Southern Tasmania Denison (federal)