Division of Bendigo

Bendigo Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Bendigo in Victoria, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1901
MP	Lisa Chesters
Party	Labor
Namesake	Bendigo, Victoria
Electors	109,615 (2016)
Area	6,255 km2 (2,415.1 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Bendigo is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the city of Bendigo.

The division is situated on the northern foothills of the Great Dividing Range in North Central Victoria. It covers an area of approximately 6,255 square kilometres (2,415 sq mi) and provides the southern gateway to the Murray Darling Basin. In addition to the city of Bendigo, other large population centres in the division include Castlemaine, Heathcote, Kyneton and Woodend.

The current Member for the Division of Bendigo, since the 2013 federal election, is Lisa Chesters, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

In the early years of federation the seat consisted of little more than Bendigo itself, but on later boundaries the seat has included towns such as Echuca, Castlemaine, Maryborough and Seymour.

Bendigo has been a marginal seat, changing hands regularly between the Labor Party and the conservative parties; typically mirroring voting patterns in state elections. However, it has remained a Labor seat since the 1998 federal election. Bendigo has had 16 members, the highest number of any federal electorate, equal to Denison, Bass and Swan.