| Bennelong Australian House of Representatives Division |
|
|---|---|
 Division of Bennelong (green) in New South Wales |
|
| Created: | 1949 |
| MP: | John Alexander |
| Party: | Liberal |
| Namesake: | Bennelong |
| Electors: | 98,915 (2010) |
| Area: | 58 km² (22 sq mi) |
| Demographic: | Inner Metropolitan |
The Division of Bennelong is an Australian electorate in New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Bennelong, an Aboriginal man befriended by the first Governor of New South Wales, Arthur Phillip. Bennelong is based in Northern Sydney, including the suburbs of Eastwood, Carlingford, Epping and Ryde, and was held by the Liberal Party from its creation until its swing to Labor in the 2007 election. The Liberal Party regained the seat at the 2010 election.
Contents |
Electoral history [edit]
When the Division of Bennelong was created in 1949, it covered mainly the suburbs of Ryde, Hunters Hill and Lane Cove, all of which were (and still are) relatively affluent areas, and as such it has historically been a "safe" Liberal seat.
Over the years Bennelong has evolved into a marginal seat, and this has been attributed to two factors. Firstly, the electoral boundary of Bennelong has been redrawn ("redistributed") numerous times, pushing it further westward into Labor-friendly territory. Successive redistributions eliminated wealthy Lane Cove and Hunters Hill in the East and incorporated Eastwood, Epping, Carlingford and working class Ermington in the North and West. Secondly, the demographic has changed as well: since the early 1990s, Eastwood and surrounding suburbs have seen an influx of migrants from China, Hong Kong, South Korea and India, who are relatively affluent and conservative, but are sensitive towards political policies on immigration and multiculturalism.[1]
2004 election [edit]
The two-party preferred vote for the Liberals declined 3.4% in the 2004 election, contrary to a strong national trend to the coalition (and a particularly strong one to the Coalition in outer-suburban metropolitan seats), making Bennelong a marginal seat at that time, with a margin of just 4.3%. The 2006 redistribution pushed this margin slightly further into Labor territory, due to the inclusion of the predominantly working class and public housing suburb of Ermington in Bennelong's boundaries.[2] The Greens increased their vote at this election by 12.34% to 16.37% at this election due to the preselection of the high-profile Andrew Wilkie.
2007 election [edit]
In the 2007 election, the incumbent Member for Bennelong, then-Prime Minister John Howard, lost the seat to Labor candidate Maxine McKew, after holding it for 33 years. This was only the second time in Australian history that an incumbent Prime Minister had been defeated in his own electorate, the first being Stanley Bruce in 1929. The election marked the first time a Labor candidate won, and also the first time a woman won the seat.
In his national address conceding the election, Howard had admitted that it was "very likely" that he had lost the seat.[3] Following initial reluctance to officially call the outcome (despite confidence of success),[4][5] McKew declared victory officially on 1 December.[6][7] At that time, the Australian Electoral Commission showed McKew ahead on a two candidate preferred basis, 43,272 votes to 41,159;[8] however, pre-poll, postal and absent votes were still being counted and could possibly have affected the outcome.
Howard formally conceded defeat in Bennelong on 12 December.[9] The Electoral Commission has declared the seat, with 44,685 votes for McKew to 42,251 for Howard; voter turnout in Bennelong was 95%.[10]
Polls [edit]
| Date | Poller | Coalition | Labor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 October 1998 | 1998 election[11] | 56.03% | 43.97% |
| 4–5 April 2001 | Roy Morgan[12] | 57% | 43% |
| 10 November 2001 | 2001 election[13] | 57.70% | 42.30% |
| 9 October 2004 | 2004 election[14] | 54.33% | 45.67% |
| 14–15 February 2007 | Roy Morgan[15] | 45% | 55% |
| 9–10 May 2007 | Galaxy[citation needed] | 48% | 52% |
| 8–9 August 2007 | Galaxy[citation needed] | 47% | 53% |
2010 election [edit]
For the 2010 Federal election, the Liberal Party pre-selected former tennis professional and tennis commentator John Alexander to contest the marginal seat. McKew recontested the seat for Labor.[16] After a long and high profile campaign, Alexander won the seat back from Labor and increased both the Liberals' two party preferred and primary vote for the first time since 2001 and the largest swing towards the Liberals since 1996. Alexander defeated McKew with a 2PP swing of 4.52%, contributing to the Gillard Government's loss of its parliamentary majority.[17]
McKew said Labor had failed to repeat the professional and targeted campaign of 2007. She also conceded that the removal of Kevin Rudd had been a factor in the party's poor showing, along with the Government's dumping of the emissions trading scheme and a lacklustre national campaign. [18]
Members [edit]
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Sir) John Cramer | Liberal | 1949–1974 | |
| John Howard | Liberal | 1974–2007 | |
| Maxine McKew | Labor | 2007–2010 | |
| John Alexander | Liberal | 2010–present | |
Election results [edit]
| Australian federal election, 2010: Bennelong | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | John Alexander | 41,582 | 48.53 | +3.04 | |
| Labor | Maxine McKew | 31,803 | 37.12 | -8.21 | |
| Greens | Lindsay Peters | 6,808 | 7.95 | +2.42 | |
| Christian Democrats | Julie Worsley | 1,824 | 2.13 | +0.84 | |
| Sex Party | Sue Raye | 1,105 | 1.29 | +1.29 | |
| One Nation | Victor Waterson | 725 | 0.85 | +0.55 | |
| Family First | Stephen Chavura | 570 | 0.67 | +0.34 | |
| Carers Alliance | Mary Mockler | 478 | 0.56 | +0.56 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Terje Petersen | 344 | 0.40 | +0.30 | |
| Climate Sceptics | Bill Pounder | 275 | 0.32 | +0.32 | |
| Building Australia | Martin Levine | 170 | 0.20 | +0.20 | |
| Total formal votes | 85,684 | 92.63 | -1.15 | ||
| Informal votes | 6,820 | 7.37 | +1.15 | ||
| Turnout | 92,504 | 93.53 | -1.47 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | John Alexander | 45,518 | 53.12 | +4.52 | |
| Labor | Maxine McKew | 40,166 | 46.88 | -4.52 | |
| Liberal gain from Labor | Swing | +4.52 | |||
References [edit]
- ^ The Battle for Bennelong: The adventures of Maxine McKew, aged 50something by Margot Saville, Melbourne University Press, 2007
- ^ "Archive for the 'Federal Redistributions' Category". The Poll Bludger. 13 September 2006. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ "Defeated Howard thanks Australia". ABC News. 25 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ "McKew refuses to call Bennelong". News.com.au. 25 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ "McKew confident but can wait to declare". The Australian. 26 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ "McKew declares victory in Bennelong". ABC News. 1 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Maxine McKew claims victory in Bennelong". The Sydney Morning Herald. 1 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ "House of Representatives Division First Preferences". Australian Electoral Commission. 30 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-01.
- ^ "Finally, Howard admits McKew has it". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
- ^ "House of Representatives Division First Preferences". Australian Electoral Commission. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-13.
- ^ "House of Representatives – Two Party Preferred Statistics by Division (1998)". Australian Electoral Commission. 9 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ ""Safe" Liberal Seats Not So Safe According To Latest Bulletin-Morgan Poll.". Roy Morgan Research. 17 April 2001. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ "House of Representatives: Divisional Results". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ "Bennelong – Divisional Profiles". Australian Electoral Commission. 15 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ "Special Crikey Morgan Poll: Howard Would Lose Bennelong". Roy Morgan Research. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
- ^ ABC; Retrieved 2010-02-28
- ^ Australian Electoral Commission
- ^ "Labor bloodbath begins and Maxine McKew throws the first punch". news.com.au. 22 August 2010.
External links [edit]
Coordinates: 33°47′35″S 151°05′56″E / 33.793°S 151.099°E
A portion of the proceeds from advertising on Digplanet goes to supporting Wikipedia.
