Division of Oxley

The Division of Oxley is an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The current division is the second to bear the name, and was created in 1948. The division is named after the Australian explorer, John Oxley. Oxley is located in south east Queensland, and covers the south western suburbs of the City of Brisbane, and part of the City of Ipswich. The division covers an area of 669 square kilometres in 2005.

The original Division of Oxley was established in 1901, and was renamed Griffith in 1934. Bill Hayden was the ALP 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. He left politics to become Governor-General in 1988.

In 1996, the seat became most well-known for controversial far right 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. Hanson contested the seat of Blair, winning 36% of the vote but losing to the Liberals (who got 21%) under Australia's system of preferential voting. For more information, see the article on Hanson.

Members for Oxley

• Donald Alastair Cameron (Liberal) (1949-61)
• Bill Hayden (Labor) (1961-88)
• Leslie Scott (Labor) (1988-96)
• Pauline Hanson (Independent) (1996-98)
• Bernie Ripoll (Labor) (1998-present)

External links

• "Division of Oxley" (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission Divisional Profiles. February 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help) (PDF, 150 kB)