Division of Cunningham

Cunningham Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Cunningham in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1949
MP	Sharon Bird
Party	Labor
Namesake	Allan Cunningham
Electors	115,312 (2019)
Area	519 km2 (200.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Cunningham is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

History[]

Allan Cunningham, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham, a 19th-century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland.

The division has always been represented by the Australian Labor Party, except following the 2002 by-election when the Greens won the seat; being the first time that the Greens held a seat in the House of Representatives. Labor recovered the seat at the 2004 federal election. The Illawarra is one of the few non-metropolitan regions where Labor has consistently done well.

Its most prominent members have been Rex Connor, a senior minister in the Whitlam government, and Stephen Martin, who was Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 1993–1996, during the last term of the Keating government. The sitting member, since the 2004 federal election, is Sharon Bird, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

Cunningham is Labor's safest non-metropolitan seat, with a thirteen percent swing needed for the Liberals to win it.

Boundaries[]

The division is located on the coast of New South Wales between southern Sydney and Wollongong. It takes in the northern portion of Wollongong, including Corrimal, Figtree and Unanderra. It also includes several of Sydney's outer southern suburbs, including Heathcote and Bundeena. The division covers areas east of the Illawarra escarpment and is bounded by the Tasman Sea to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Royal National Park and to the south by the Wollongong suburbs of Figtree, Cordeaux Heights and Coniston. Although the region is primarily rural, the vast majority of the population is located in the northern outskirts of Wollongong and along the eastern seaboard. The main products and means of livelihood in the area are tourism, tertiary education, steel production, coal mining, brick manufacturing, textiles and dairy farming.

Members[]

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Billy Davies (1884–1956)	Labor	10 December 1949 – 17 February 1956	Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Wollongong-Kembla. Died in office
		Victor Kearney (1903–1982)	Labor	1 April 1956 – 1 November 1963	Retired
		Rex Connor (1907–1977)	Labor	30 November 1963 – 22 August 1977	Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Wollongong-Kembla. Served as minister under Whitlam. Died in office
		Stewart West (1934–)	Labor	15 October 1977 – 8 February 1993	Served as minister under Hawke. Lost preselection and retired
		Dr Stephen Martin (1948–)	Labor	13 March 1993 – 16 August 2002	Previously held the Division of Macarthur. Served as Speaker during the Keating Government. Resigned in order to retire from politics
		Michael Organ (1956–)	Greens	19 October 2002 – 9 October 2004	Lost seat
		Sharon Bird (1962–)	Labor	9 October 2004 – present	Served as minister under Gillard and Rudd. Incumbent

Election results[]

References[]

External links[]

• Division of Cunningham - Australian Electoral Commission
• Wilson, Peter (2002). The Australian Political Almanack.

Coordinates: 34°15′32″S 150°54′58″E / 34.259°S 150.916°E / -34.259; 150.916