 Formed in 1945 the seat had usually been fairly safe for the Liberal Party having only been won by Labor at its 1952 and 1982 landslides before the 1990s.However a redistribution prior to the 1992 election made the seat notionally Labor.Liberal candidate Vin Heffernan was able to win at that election, only to be one of just three sitting Liberals defeated at the 1996 election.