The electorate was created in 1903, two years after Australian federation (see History of Australia). It is named after George Bass, an explorer who charted much of the Tasmanian coast. The electorate is used both federal elections (for the House of Representatives) and state elections (for the House of Assembly)
About the electorate
Bass has always been one of Australia's more marginal electorates, and has a tendency to regularly change between parties. However, it has only been held by conservative parties for approximately twenty of its 101 years. This was emphasised in 1993 when Silvia Smith won the seat from the incumbent Warwick Smith by around 40 votes, only for Warwick Smith to win it back in 1996 by a similar margin.
As there is a large population of timber workers in the electorate, forestry has always been important issue in Bass. This was highlighted at the 2004 election, when the Australian Labor Party lost the seat - despite previous polling suggesting that they would hold it - after announcing a last-minute plan to drastically scale back logging in Tasmania if elected.
The Division of Bass is an Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania.
The division was created in 1903 and is named for the explorer George Bass.
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.
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