Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[1]
When the division was created in 1949, it partially replaced the abolished Division of Bourke around the Coburg and Pascoe Vale area.[2][3] The new division also included Essendon which was previously in the Division of Maribyrnong.[4] In 1955, it lost the Essendon and Pascoe Vale areas, but gained areas to the south at Brunswick West and part of Brunswick. In 1968, it regained the Pascoe Vale areas, gained the entire suburb of Brunswick as well as Brunswick East. In 1977, it lost parts of its southern portions, but gained Oak Park to the north-west and Preston and Thornbury to the east. In 1984, it gained part of Reservoir near Edwardes Lake, and the boundaries at Preston and Thornbury were cut back to the Epping railway line.[2]
In 2003, it lost the Essendon and Moonee Ponds areas, but gained Gowanbrae and the part of Coburg North east of the Merri Creek. It had a minor boundary change in 2010 when it lost a small portion of Strathmore and gained part of Fitzroy North of the Capital City Trail. In 2018, it lost areas west of the Moonee Ponds Creek (which was also the boundary for City of Moreland), Coburg North east of Merri Creek (which it gained in 2003), and the areas in Fitzroy North. It had another minor boundary change in 2021 when it lost a block of Brunswick East.[2] In 2024, it lost areas west of Pascoe Vale Road and CityLink (Glenroy, Oak Park, Pascoe Vale South and Brunswick West), but expanded southwards up to Alexandra Parade to include Princes Hill, Carlton North and Fitzroy North.[5]
Since the creation of the City of Moreland (now City of Merri-bek) in 1994, the division has only included the entirety of the local government area between 2010 and 2018, but contained the majority of it at other times.[2]
As of the 2024 redistribution, Wills is bordered by Pascoe Vale Road and CityLink to the west, Western Ring Road to the north, and Merri Creek to the east. It consists of the majority of the City of Merri-bek, as well as portions of the cities of Melbourne, Moonee Valley, and Yarra.[6]
Wills has been in Labor hands for its entire existence except between the 1992 by-election and 1996, when it was held by independent Phil Cleary. Its highest-profile member was Bob Hawke, who was Prime Minister of Australia from 1983 until 1991. The 1992 by-election is remarkable for a number of reasons: It was caused by Bob Hawke's retirement from parliament; it had a record twenty-two candidates standing; it was won by an independent; the results were thrown out as the winner, Phil Cleary, was on unpaid leave from the state education system (the Australian Constitution forbids people employed by the Crown from standing for election). No replacement by-election was held as the court decision which threw out the results was made shortly before a general election was due.
While Wills remains a traditional Labor stronghold, demographic changes and the rise of The Greens has seen Wills, along with the neighbouring seat of Cooper, become Labor-Green contests in recent years. In 2016, Labor's margin versus Greens candidate and City of Merri-bek Mayor Samantha Ratnam dropped below 5 percent after a swing of more than 10 percent to Ratnam, despite the traditional 2PP margin (versus The Liberals) of over 20 percent making it one of the safest Labor seats in the country when considered against the Coalition.[7] Labor's margin over the Greens increased to over 8 percent at the 2019 election, and remained almost unchanged at the 2022 Election.
Wills has undergone inner-citygentrification, particularly in Brunswick, which has led to a surge in support for the Greens in the seat. However, the Labor vote increases the further residents live from the Green heartland of Brunswick.[8]
Wills has relatively large immigrant communities, with populations of second-generation Greek and Italian immigrants. According to the 2016 census, 47.8% of electors had both parents born outside of Australia.[9]
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