| Federal: | yes |
| Oxley | |
| Created: | 1949 |
| Mp: | Milton Dick |
| Mp-Party: | Australian Labor Party |
| Namesake: | John Oxley |
| Electors: | 112740 |
| Electors Year: | 2022 |
| Area: | 159 |
| Class: | Outer metropolitan |
The Division of Oxley is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. It is currently represented by Milton Dick, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[1]
The current division is the second to bear the name, and was created in 1949. The division is named after the Australian explorer, John Oxley. Oxley is located in south east Queensland, and covers the south western suburbs of Brisbane.
The original Division of Oxley was established in 1901, and was abolished and replaced by the Division of Griffith in 1934. The 1949 incarnation's best-known member was Bill Hayden, the Labor Opposition Leader between 1977 and 1983, when he resigned under pressure the same day that the 1983 election which swept Bob Hawke to power was called. Hayden later served as a minister in the Hawke government before becoming Governor-General in 1989.
In 1996, the seat became most well known for controversial social conservative MP Pauline Hanson who was elected as a Liberal-turned-independent, but the seat was heavily redistributed in 1997, splitting her main support base of Ipswich between Oxley and Blair. In 1998 Hanson contested the seat of Blair, winning 36% of the primary vote but losing to the Liberals (who got 21%) under Australia's system of preferential voting. Hanson's brief tenure represents the only time since 1961 that the seat has been out of Labor hands.
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donald Cameron | Liberal | nowrap | 10 December 1949 – 9 December 1961 | Served as minister under Menzies. Lost seat | |||
| Bill Hayden | Labor | nowrap | 9 December 1961 – 17 August 1988 | Served as minister under Whitlam and Hawke. Served as Opposition Leader from 1977 to 1983. Resigned to become Governor-General of Australia | |||
| Les Scott | nowrap | 8 October 1988 – 2 March 1996 | Lost seat | ||||
| Pauline Hanson | Independent | nowrap | 2 March 1996 – 11 April 1997 | Did not contest in 1998. Failed to win the Division of Blair. Later elected to the Senate in 2016 | |||
| nowrap | One Nation | nowrap | 11 April 1997 – 3 October 1998 | ||||
| Bernie Ripoll | Labor | nowrap | 3 October 1998 – 9 May 2016 | Retired | |||
| Milton Dick | nowrap | 2 July 2016 – present | Incumbent. Currently the Speaker of the House |
See main article: Electoral results for the Division of Oxley.