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About WILLS the electorate
History and Proclamation
The division of Wills was first proclaimed in 1948 and had its first
Election in 1949. Over the course of its fifty-six year history it has
been held by W G Bryson (ALP), G M Bryant (ALP), R J L Hawke (ALP), P
R Cleary (IND) and is currently held by Kelvin Thomson (ALP). The seat
is named after William John Wills, who teamed up with Burke in an ill-fated
attempt to cross the Australian continent in 1860. They died trying to
return in 1861.
Location
Wills is a House of Representatives seat, located in the north-west
of Melbourne, Victoria. It comprises the suburbs of Coburg, Coburg North,
Gowanbrae, Hadfield, Oak Park, Pascoe Vale, and Strathmore, extending
as far north as Fawkner, Glenroy and the Western Ring Road and south
to include most of Brunswick and Brunswick East.
Within its borders are parts of the State electorates of Pascoe
Vale, Brunswick, Broadmeadows, Thomastown and Essendon. At a local Government
level it shares most of its borders with Moreland, but includes Strathmore
from the municipality of Moonee Valley and the Essendon Airport.
Wills is of a mix of residential and industrial areas including a major
retail area along Sydney Road and major retail areas along the North
Glenroy end of Pascoe Vale Road and Southern city end of Lygon Street
and Nicholson Street. The electorate also includes Essendon Airport,
Fawkner Cemetery, the old Kodak site, as well as the former Pentridge
Prison which is almost fully redeveloped. It covers an area of approximately
52 sq km.
Population and Ethnicity
Wills is one of the larger electorates in Australia, with a population
of 134,660 at the 2001 census (note that this takes into account the
2003 boundary changes) and is the second largest electorate in Victoria,
behind Melbourne. Additionally it is the 25th largest federal electorate
out of 150.
Much has been made of Australia’s ageing population. In Wills
it is a major concern. As of 2001, 15,205 people were over 45 and still
in the work force. In addition to this, 16.6% of the Wills population
are over 65. That figure is the third highest in Victoria, and the 16th
highest in Australia.
A relatively large proportion of its population derive from immigrant
families. With 32.5% of Wills residents born overseas, there are only
29 seats with a higher immigrant population. Almost half of the people
born overseas were born in Southern and South Eastern Europe, giving
Wills the fifth highest European population in Australia. The total percentage
of people born in non-English speaking countries is 28.5 percent. With
this high migrant population comes a relatively high level of persons
not fluent in English (7.6%).
Employment
The area of Wills contains many large industries including paper, tiles,
hosiery, steel, paints, glass, textiles, Australian Defence Industries,
joinery, electrical goods and various hardware industries. In addition
to these, there are large manufacturing plants in neighbouring electorates
which draw employees from the Wills electorate, most notably the Ford
factory in Broadmeadows.
Of the other occupations in the Census, the greatest representation
came in the professional occupations (15,899) and Tradespersons or Labourers
(10,653). Within the electorate over 23,000 people have a tertiary education.
Financial security for Wills residents is of high concern, with 26.8%
of families on a weekly income of less than $500. The median weekly wage
is $884, placing Wills in the lower half of the country. The financial
burden on the people of Wills includes median monthly loan repayments
from the 2001 Census of $953. Of course this does not take into account
the last few years of the housing boom, nor the latest interest rate
rises. This gives Wills a high loan repayment when compared to other
electorates.
Map
of Wills |
