Victorian State Election 2010: Ferntree Gully
Electorate: Ferntree Gully
Margin: Liberal 0.04%
Upper house region: Eastern Metropolitan
Federal: Aston/La Trobe
Click here for Victorian Electoral Commission map
The candidates
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LEAHY, Martin
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Electorate analysis: Ferntree Gully covers suburbs in outer eastern Melbourne, from Liberal-leaning Boronia in the north to Labor-leaning Rowville in the south. The electorate was created in 2002 in place of abolished Knox, which Labor held from its creation in 1976 until Hurtle Lupton gained it for the Liberals in the 1992 landslide with an 11.3 per cent swing. The electorate’s volatility told against Lupton at the 2002 election when it swung 9.9 per cent the other way. Labor’s Anne Eckstein lasted only a term, a 2.3 per cent swing in 2006 delivering victory to Liberal candidate Nick Wakeling by a margin of just 27 votes. A former Knox councillor, Wakeling was being talked up by his party as a ministerial contender before his election, and he won promotion to parliamentary secretary to the Opposition Leader in February 2008. Labor’s candidate is Josh Cullinan, an official with the National Tertiary Education Union.
Analysis written by William Bowe. Read William’s blog, The Poll Bludger.