Division of Ballarat
The Division of Ballarat (spelt Ballaarat from 1901 until the 1977 election) is an Australian electoral division in the state of Victoria. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It was named for the provincial city of the same name by Scottish squatter Archibald Yuille, who established the first settlement − his sheep run called Ballaarat − in 1837, with the name derived from a local Wathawurrung word for the area, balla arat, thought to mean "resting place".
| Ballarat Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
Division of Ballarat in Victoria, as of the 2022 federal election | |
| Created | 1901 |
| MP | Catherine King |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | Ballarat (historically spelled "Ballaarat", from a Wathaurong Aboriginal word: balla arat, thought to mean "resting place".) |
| Electors | 110,704 (2022) |
| Area | 4,322 km2 (1,668.7 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Provincial |
The division currently takes in the regional City of Ballarat and the smaller towns of Bacchus Marsh, Ballan, Blackwood, Buninyong, Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford, Myrniong and Trentham and part of Burrumbeet.
The current Member for Ballarat, since the 2001 federal election, is Catherine King, a member of the Australian Labor Party.