ABOUT INDI

The electorate of Indi

The Federal electorate of Indi covers an area of approximately 28,000 sq kms along the New South Wales border in north-east Victoria. Its diverse and beautiful communities include the towns of Rutherglen to Corryong in the north, Avenel and Woods Point in the south and the snowfields of Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Mount Buffalo and Mount Buller in the east.

The electorate of Indi was first proclaimed in 1900 and was named after an Aboriginal word for the Murray River. Sophie Mirabella was elected to represent the people of Indi in 2001, and re-elected in 2004 and 2007.

The main towns in the electorate include Beechworth, Benalla, Bright, Corryong, Euroa, Mansfield, Mount Beauty, Myrtleford, Rutherglen, Tallangatta, Wangaratta and Wodonga. With the Victorian snowfields at its heart, Tourism is an important local industry. Other industries include agriculture, forestry, wood chipping, viticulture, timber processing and manufacturing.

The electorate was badly affected by the bushfires of 2003, in which 900,000 hectares were burnt. In the deadly 2009 Bushfires, more than 30,000 hectares were burnt, several towns were threatened, homes and properties were destroyed, and a local couple lost their lives.

Sophie Mirabella has been a strong advocate for Bushfire mitigation measures to protect the people of Indi, and continues to work closely with local community organisations to ensure that the community is better prepared to deal with such disasters in the future.