Eden-Monaro

Eden-Monaro Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Eden-Monaro in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1901
MP	Mike Kelly
Party	Labor
Namesake	Eden and Monaro
Electors	107,887 (2016)
Area	41,617 km2 (16,068.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Eden-Monaro is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. 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 town of Eden and the Monaro district of southern New South Wales.

Its boundaries have changed very little throughout its history, and it includes the towns of Yass, Bega and Cooma and the city of Queanbeyan.

Until 1943 the seat was held by non-Labor parties for all but three years. Since then, it has been consistently marginal, though it was in Labor hands for all but one term from 1943 to 1975. This is mainly because of the seat's demographics. The Eden area tilts toward the Liberals; most of the area is part of the historically safe Liberal state seat of Bega. In contrast, the Monaro area has traditionally been more of a swing area.

Prior to the 2016 election, Eden-Monaro was long regarded as Australia's most well-known "bellwether seat". From the 1972 election until the 2013 election, Eden-Monaro was won by the party that also won the election. During this time, all of its sitting members were defeated at the polls – none retired or resigned.