It lies within the Eastern Metropolitan Region of the upper house, the Legislative Council.

It was won at its first election by David Perrin, the outgoing secretary of the Victorian Dairy Industry Authority.

In 1999, Perrin lost Liberal preselection to former Kennett adviser Nicholas Kotsiras in a bitter contest which saw numerous claims of branch stacking.

He held many shadow portfolios in opposition between 2002 and 2010, and served as a minister in both the Baillieu and Napthine governments from 2010 to 2014.

In early 2014, Kotsiras announced that he would retire at the 2014 election, and resigned from the ministry in March.