Politics of Victoria

The Victorian Legislative Council (upper house) has 40 members (or MLCs), representing eight electoral regions.

Traditionally, Labor is strongest in Melbourne's working and middle class western, northern and inner-city suburbs, and the regional cities of Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong.

All state Parliamentary parties except for the DLP and Transport Matters are registered to contest federal elections.

Daniel Mannix: Catholic archbishop and opponent of conscription in World War I. John Wren: Bookmaker, underworld figure and politician.

Unsuccessful attempts were made to suppress the novel on the grounds of libel, although these backfired and caused the fictional life of Hardy's John West to become tangled with Wren's in the minds of most Australians.

Remembered for anti-communism, extreme devotion to the Queen and Empire, and for a period of particular prosperity and a sense of well-being and stability in Australia.

Henry Bolte: Premier of Victoria from 1955 to 1972, notable for his conservative populist style and for his role in the last judicial execution (the hanging of Ronald Ryan in 1967) in Australia.

His aggressive reforms and populist style led to a surprise electoral loss in 1999 to Steve Bracks.