About Grey - Electorate Profile

Click HERE to download the AEC Map of the elecorate of Grey [PDF 274KB]

Description: Rural.

State Electorates: Grey includes the South Australian House of Assembly electorates of Stuart, Flinders, Frome and Giles and part of Goyder.                              

The Division:

Grey is one of 11 divisions in South Australia

It is a rural electorate which covers 92% of South Australia

Grey covers an area of 904,881square kilometres which stretches from the bottom tip of the Yorke Peninsula in the south to the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales borders. Grey is the third largest electorate in Australia.

The cities of Whyalla, Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Port Lincoln are in the division. Towns stretch from Penong and Ceduna and include Coober Pedy, Marree, Oodnadatta, Marla and Innamincka in the far north, Jamestown and Eudunda in the Mid North and Maitland and Kadina on the Yorke Peninsula.

The division was named after Sir George Grey (1812-1898), Governor of South Australia from 1841-1845.

Products / Industries of the area - broad-acre agriculture and pastoral grazing (wheat, wool, sheep cattle etc), mining (copper, silver, iron ore, gold & uranium) heavy industry (lead smelting, steel making), fishing (Port Lincoln has the largest commercial fishing fleet in the southern hemisphere), oil, gas, opals, wines, aquaculture, forestry and salt.

The People:
At the 2007 election 98,058 people were enrolled to vote in Grey.

History of the Division:
Grey became a division in 1903. Rowan Ramsey was first elected as the Federal Member at the November 2007 election.

Previous Members for Grey were:

• Mr B Wakelin (LIB) 1993-2007
• Mr L O'Neil (ALP) 1983 - 1993
• Mr L Wallis (ALP) 1969 - 1983
• Mr D Jessop (Lib) 1966 - 1969
• Mr J Mortimer (ALP) 1963 - 1966
• Mr E H D Russell (ALP) 1949 - 1963
• Mr A Badman (UAP/CP) 1937 - 1949
• Mr P McBride (UAP) 1931 - 1937
• Mr A Lacey (ALP) 1922 - 1931
• Mr A Poynton (ALP) 1903 - 1922