The electoral district of Polwarth is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is located in south-west rural Victoria, west of Geelong, and covers the Colac and Corangamite local government areas (LGA), parts of the Moyne, Golden Plains and Surf Coast LGAs, and slivers of the Ararat and Greater Geelong LGAs, running along the Great Ocean Road taking in Anglesea, Cape Otway, Peterborough, Aireys Inlet, Lorne, Wye River, Apollo Bay and Port Campbell, covering the inland towns of Winchelsea, Colac, Camperdown and Terang along the Princes Highway, and Inverleigh, Cressy, Lismore and Mortlake on the Hamilton Highway, and finally, includes the Otway Ranges and Lake Corangamite.
The seat has existed since 1889 and has always been held by conservative parties. The Liberal Party has held the seat continuously since 1970, although the Nationals have provided strong challenges on occasions, such as at the 1999 election when election night figures suggested retired AFL Footballer Paul Couch would win the seat. Ultimately, however, Couch failed to finish ahead of the Labor Party candidate and the Liberal candidate, Terry Mulder, won after receiving preferences from Couch.
The 2014 Victorian election saw the Liberal Terry Mulder retain his seat, with a 3.2% swing to Labor. Mulder resigned from parliament on 3 September 2015. The subsequent by-election, held on 31 October, saw Richard Riordan elected as the new member.
Members for Polwarth MemberPartyTerm Charles Forrest Unaligned 1889–1894 Thomas Baker Unaligned 1894–1897 Charles Forrest Unaligned 1897–1911 John Johnstone Commonwealth Liberal 1911–1917 James McDonald Nationalist 1917–1929 Economy 1929–1931 United Australia 1931–1933 Allan McDonald United Australia 1933–1940 Edward Guye Country 1940–1950 Liberal and Country 1950–1958 Tom Darcy Liberal and Country 1958–1959 Liberal 1959–1970 Cec Burgin Liberal 1970–1985 Ian Smith Liberal 1985–1999 Terry Mulder Liberal 1999–2015 Richard Riordan Liberal 2015–
Election results
Historical maps
See also 2015 Polwarth state by-election
References
External links Electorate profile: Polwarth District, Victorian Electoral Commission