It includes the towns of Monbulk, Olinda and Silvan as well as some outer suburbs such as Belgrave and Tecoma.

The Puffing Billy Railway forms part of the boundary of the electorate, other tourist attractions within the electorate include Mount Dandenong and the Dandenong Ranges National Park, Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve and the Silvan Reservoir.

For its first three decades, it was a bellwether seat held by the party of government.

It was held by the Liberals from 1967 to 1982 before falling to Labor in the landslide that brought John Cain to power.

It appears to be trending toward Labor in recent years; Merlino held onto it in 2010 even as Labor lost government, and retained it on a healthy swing in 2014 when a redistribution made it notionally Liberal.