Division of Macarthur
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| Macarthur Australian House of Representatives Division |
|
|---|---|
| State or territory: | New South Wales |
| Created: | 1949 |
| MP: | Pat Farmer |
| Party: | Liberal |
| Namesake: | John Macarthur and Elizabeth Macarthur |
| Electors: | 84,645 |
| Area: | 1,300 km² (501.9 sq mi) |
| Demographic: | Outer Metropolitan |
The Division of Macarthur is an Australia Federal electoral division covering outer south-west Sydney. Its present boundaries cover the southern suburbs of Campbelltown, all of the local government area of Camden and small parts of Wollondilly. It covers 537 km² and is named after John Macarthur and his wife Elizabeth Macarthur, who were pioneers of Australia's wool industry. The main products and work in the electorate are in the fruit and vegetable production, lucerne and fodder crops, wine, dairy cattle and horse-breeding.
While the electorate is predominately outer-suburban, its contains some semi-rural areas such as Bringelly and Leppington. The population of the electorate is likely to expand significantly over coming years due to the release of new land surrounding Sydney for residential development.
Macarthur has changed hands regularly over the years as redistributions have favoured different parties. Macarthur was a bellwether seat from the time of its establishment in 1949 until the 2007 election - during that 58-year period it was always held by a member of the governing party or coalition. Demographic changes and the relative popularity of the sitting MP, Pat Farmer have allowed the Liberal Party to consolidate their position here in recent years. The redistributions have shrunk the geographical size of the seat, as the Campbelltown region becomes more heavily populated. In the redistribution prior to the 2001 Federal election, Southern highlands towns such as Bowral, Moss Vale were removed, shrinking the area to one eighth of its original size. This made the seat notionally ALP by 1.3%, from the previous 5.6% of the Liberals, which led to Liberal minister John Fahey abandoning the seat. Farmer achieved an 8.3% swing to regain the seat anyway, and increased the margin from 7 to 9.5% at the 2004 Federal election.
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[edit] 2007 federal election
Against wider expectations from electoral commentators and amateur online psephologists, Macarthur swung heavily to Labor at the 2007 federal election, with a swing of 10.4%. The swing was spread evenly across the electorate, reflecting its solid mortgage belt character. The swing was particularly large in the heavily mortgaged suburbs of Narellan, Camden and the more Liberal-voting areas of Campbelltown. The previously very large margin of 11.1% that was enjoyed by the Liberal member, Pat Farmer, was sharply reduced to a margin of 0.7%.
[edit] Geography
The Division covers areas east of the Nepean River between Liverpool and Penrith and south to Camden. It encompasses the suburbs of Airds, Badgery's Creek, Bickley Vale, Bradbury, Bringelly, Camden, Camden South, Campbelltown, Catherine Field, Claymore, Cobbitty, Eagle Vale, Ellis Lane, Gilead, Grasmere, Greendale, Harrington Park, Kearns, Kentlyn, Leppington, Mount Annan, Narellan, Oran Park, Rosemeadow, Rossmore, Wedderburn.
[edit] Demographics
It is a mortgage belt area, with a high percentage of young families, leading to the proportion of residents under 18 being 35%, compared to the national average of 27.2%, with a low proportion of senior citizens (5.9% compared to 12.1%). This is further highlighted in the fact that 23.3% of the population is attending school, compared to the national average of 18.1%. The income is above average, with 19.7% of the families in the electorate earning less than AU $500 per week, compared to 24.3% for the national average. The birth demographics of the electorate are similar to the rest of Australia, with the proportion of people born overseas and in non-English speaking countries within one percentage point of the national average.
[edit] Members
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeff Bate | Liberal | 1949—1972 | |
| Independent | 1972—1972 | ||
| John Kerin | Labor | 1972—1975 | |
| Michael Baume | Liberal | 1975—1983 | |
| Colin Hollis | Labor | 1983—1984 | |
| Stephen Martin | Labor | 1984—1993 | |
| Chris Haviland | Labor | 1993—1996 | |
| John Fahey | Liberal | 1996—2001 | |
| Pat Farmer | Liberal | 2001—present | |
[edit] Election results
| Australian federal election, 2007: Macarthur | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Liberal | Pat Farmer | 35,996 | 46.98 | -8.79 | |
| Labor | Nick Bleasdale | 33,688 | 43.97 | +12.55 | |
| Greens | Ben Raue | 3,334 | 4.35 | -0.52 | |
| Christian Democrats | Godwin Goh | 1,357 | 1.77 | -0.77 | |
| Family First | Douglas Rauch | 1,323 | 1.73 | -0.19 | |
| Democrats | Samantha Elliott-Halls | 618 | 0.81 | -0.12 | |
| Non-Custodial Parents | Andy Thompson | 306 | 0.40 | +0.40 | |
| Total formal votes | 76,622 | 94.63 | +1.50 | ||
| Informal votes | 4,347 | 5.37 | -1.50 | ||
| Turnout | 80,969 | 95.66 | +1.24 | ||
| Two Candidate Preferred Result | |||||
| Liberal | Pat Farmer | 38,865 | 50.72 | -10.43 | |
| Labor | Nick Bleasdale | 37,757 | 49.28 | +10.43 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | -10.43 | |||
[edit] References
- Psephos: Adam Carr's Election Archive
- The Poll Bludger
- ABC Elections
- Australian Electoral Commission
- Wilson, Peter (2002). The Australian Political Almanack.
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