Electoral district of Cranbourne
Cranbourne is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It is located south-east of Melbourne and includes the suburbs of Botanic Ridge, Cranbourne, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne West, Junction Village, as well as parts of Clyde, Clyde North, Cranbourne South, and Devon Meadows. It was created prior to the 1992 state election.
The current sitting member is Pauline Richards of the Labor Party, who has held the seat since 2018.
History
Cranbourne was held by Jude Perera of the Labor Party from 2002 to 2018, with a two-party preferred margin of 2.3% at the 2014 state election. However, from 1992 to the 2002 election the seat was held by the Liberal Party, albeit with different boundaries that were more favourable to the Liberals. Additionally, the Victorian State Liberals suffered a statewide swing against them that saw them lose two-thirds of their seats at the 2002 state election.Perera re-contested the seat at the 2006 election, and defeated Luke Martin of the Liberal Party. Perera held the seat again in 2010, holding off a challenge from ex-VFL player and brother of Gary Ablett Sr., Geoff Ablett.
In September 2017, Perera announced he will not be running at the 2018 state election. He was succeeded by Pauline Richards.
Rapid population growth of the Cranbourne area meant it was one of the most populated electorates in the state at the 2018 election, with 61,814 registered voters. A redistribution before the 2022 election reduced its area, losing the suburbs of Lynbrook and Cranbourne North to the Narre Warren South district, and Lyndhurst to the Carrum district, reducing the electorate to 51,173 enrolled voters.