Division of Bass
| Bass Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
 Division of Denison in Tasmania, as of the 2016 federal election. | |
| Created | 1903 |
| MP | Ross Hart |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | George Bass |
| Electors | 73,591 (2016) |
| Area | 7,378 km2 (2,848.7 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Provincial |
The Division of Bass is an Australian electoral division in Tasmania. The division was one of the five established when the former Division of Tasmania was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for the explorer George Bass. It has always been based on the city of Launceston and surrounding rural areas, and its boundaries have changed very little in the century since its creation. For most of its history it has been a marginal seat, changing hands between the Australian Labor Party and the conservative parties—since 1949 the Liberal Party. Its most notable member has been Lance Barnard, who was Deputy Prime Minister in the Whitlam Government. His resignation in 1975 was followed by Labor's heavy defeat in the Bass by-election, which is seen as the beginning of the end of the Whitlam government. In the 2016 federal elections, Labor was able to secure the division of Bass.
Members
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Ross Hart | 25,796 | 40.92 | +6.27 | |
| Liberal | Andrew Nikolic | 24,179 | 38.36 | −9.49 | |
| Greens | Terrill Riley-Gibson | 6,724 | 10.67 | +2.77 | |
| Recreational Fishers | Mark Tapsell | 3,111 | 4.94 | +4.94 | |
| Christian Democrats | Malcolm Beattie | 1,708 | 2.71 | +2.71 | |
| Renewable Energy | Roy Ramage | 1,515 | 2.40 | +2.40 | |
| Total formal votes | 63,033 | 96.08 | +0.26 | ||
| Informal votes | 2,575 | 3.92 | −0.26 | ||
| Turnout | 65,608 | ||||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Ross Hart | 35,622 | 56.51 | +10.55 | |
| Liberal | Andrew Nikolic | 27,411 | 43.49 | −10.55 | |
| Labor gain from Liberal | Swing | +10.55 | |||