Division of Braddon

This article is about the federal electorate. For the state electorate, see Division of Braddon (state).

The Division of Braddon is an Australian electoral division in the state of Tasmania. The current MP is Anne Urquhart of the Labor Party, who was elected at the 2025 federal election.

Braddon Australian House of Representatives Division
Interactive map of boundaries since the 2019 federal election
Created	1955
MP	Anne Urquhart
Party	Labor
Namesake	Sir Edward Braddon
Electors	84,278 (2025)
Area	21,369 km2 (8,250.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural
State electorate(s)	Braddon
Electorates around Braddon: Bass Strait Bass Strait Bass Strait Southern Ocean Braddon Bass Lyons Southern Ocean Southern Ocean Franklin

Braddon is a rural electorate covering approximately 21,369 square kilometres (8,251 sq mi) in the north-west and west of Tasmania, including King Island. The cities of Burnie and Devonport are major population centres in the division. Other towns include Currie, Latrobe, Penguin, Queenstown, Rosebery, Smithton, Somerset, Stanley, Strahan, Ulverstone, Waratah, Wynyard and Zeehan.^[1]

Braddon has traditionally been a marginal seat. However, in 2022 the trend was broken, with Braddon becoming a "fairly safe" seat for the first time in twelve years, with the Liberal Party holding it while losing government nationally. In 2025, large swings towards the Labor Party saw Anne Urquhart gain the seat for Labor.

Geography

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.^[2]

History

Sir Edward Braddon, the division's namesake

The division was created at the Tasmanian redistribution on 30 August 1955, essentially as a reconfigured version of the Division of Darwin. It is named for Sir Edward Braddon, a Premier of Tasmania and one of Tasmania's five original federal members of parliament.

Following the election of the Whitlam government and the period following the Franklin Dam controversy, Braddon became a relatively safe seat for the Liberal Party. In more recent years, the division has usually been a marginal seat, changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party. Its most prominent member was Ray Groom. Groom was later to represent Denison in the Tasmanian Parliament 1986–2001 and served as Tasmanian Premier 1992–96.^[3]

Members

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Aubrey Luck (1900–1999)	Liberal	10 December 1955 – 22 November 1958	Previously held the Division of Darwin. Lost seat
		Ron Davies (1919–1980)	Labor	22 November 1958 – 13 December 1975	Lost seat
		Ray Groom (1944–)	Liberal	13 December 1975 – 26 October 1984	Served as minister under Fraser. Retired. Later elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Denison in 1986
		Chris Miles (1947–)		1 December 1984 – 3 October 1998	Lost seat
		Sid Sidebottom (1951–)	Labor	3 October 1998 – 9 October 2004	Lost seat
		Mark Baker (1958–)	Liberal	9 October 2004 – 24 November 2007	Lost seat
		Sid Sidebottom (1951–)	Labor	24 November 2007 – 7 September 2013	Lost seat
		Brett Whiteley (1960–)	Liberal	7 September 2013 – 2 July 2016	Lost seat
		Justine Keay (1975–)	Labor	2 July 2016 – 10 May 2018	Election results declared void due to dual citizenship. Subsequently re-elected. Lost seat
				28 July 2018 – 18 May 2019
		Gavin Pearce (1967–)	Liberal	18 May 2019 – 28 March 2025	Retired
		Anne Urquhart (1957–)	Labor	3 May 2025 – present	Previously a member of the Senate. Incumbent

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Braddon

2025 Australian federal election: Braddon^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Anne Urquhart	29,554	39.52	+17.02
	Liberal	Mal Hingston	23,687	31.67	−12.44
	Greens	Erin Morrow	6,314	8.44	+1.72
	Independent	Adam Martin	6,169	8.25	+8.25
	One Nation	Christopher Methorst	5,703	7.63	+3.29
	Trumpet of Patriots	Stephen Kenney	3,363	4.50	+4.50
Total formal votes			74,790	95.49	+3.15
Informal votes			3,535	4.51	−3.15
Turnout			78,325	92.94	+0.18
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Anne Urquhart	42,813	57.24	+15.27
	Liberal	Mal Hingston	31,977	42.76	−15.27
	Labor gain from Liberal		Swing	+15.27

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Tasmania § Braddon.[edit]

Results are not final. Last updated on 19 May 2025 at 7:30 PM AEST.