Division of Watson
| Watson Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
 Division of Watson in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election. | |
| Created | 1992 |
| MP | Tony Burke |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | Chris Watson |
| Electors | 107,810 (2019) |
| Area | 47 km2 (18.1 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner Metropolitan |
The Division of Watson is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
History[]
The division was created at the redistribution of 31 January 1992, to replace the abolished Division of St George and is named after the Right Honourable Chris Watson, the first Labor Prime Minister of Australia. It was first contested at the 1993 federal election. There was previously another Division of Watson (1934-69), originally Chris Watson's old seat of South Sydney and located in the south-eastern suburbs of Sydney, however that Division is not connected to this one except in name. In the 2009 redistribution, the boundaries of Watson moved significantly northwest, losing the south-eastern suburbs in the St George area such as Hurstville, retaining the south-western suburbs such as Belmore, and adding a significant part of the Inner West.
While St George was a marginal seat, Watson has been a safe Labor seat for nearly all of its existence. The only time that Labor's hold was seriously threatened was in 2010, when Labor was held to 56 percent of the two-party vote.
It has previously been held by Leo McLeay, a former Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives. The current Member for Watson, since the 2004 federal election, is Tony Burke, a member of the Australian Labor Party.
Notably in 2017, the division had the second-highest percentage of "No" responses in the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 69.64% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No".[1]
Boundaries[]
The division is located in the Inner West and inner south-western suburbs of Sydney, and includes the suburbs of Ashbury, Belfield, Burwood Heights, Chullora, Croydon Park, Enfield, Greenacre, Lakemba, Mount Lewis, Punchbowl, Roselands, Strathfield South, Wiley Park; as well as parts of Ashfield, Bankstown, Belmore, Beverly Hills, Burwood, Campsie, Canterbury, Croydon, Croydon Park, Hurlstone Park, Kingsgrove, Lidcombe, Narwee, Padstow, Riverwood, Rookwood, and Summer Hill.
Members[]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Leo McLeay (1945–) |
Labor | 13 March 1993 – 31 August 2004 |
Previously held the Division of Grayndler. Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Keating. Retired | |
|
Tony Burke (1969–) |
Labor | 9 October 2004 – present |
Previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Incumbent |
Election results[]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Tony Burke | 43,550 | 51.69 | −3.70 | |
| Liberal | Mohammad Zaman | 24,769 | 29.40 | +4.01 | |
| Greens | Emmet de Bhaldraithe | 5,982 | 7.10 | +0.43 | |
| Christian Democrats | Karl Schubert | 4,522 | 5.37 | −4.19 | |
| United Australia | Dean Wrightson | 3,549 | 4.21 | +4.21 | |
| Science | Raymond Zeng | 1,878 | 2.23 | +0.29 | |
| Total formal votes | 84,250 | 87.39 | −1.96 | ||
| Informal votes | 12,159 | 12.61 | +1.96 | ||
| Turnout | 96,409 | 89.45 | +1.08 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Tony Burke | 53,518 | 63.52 | −4.06 | |
| Liberal | Mohammad Zaman | 30,732 | 36.48 | +4.06 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | −4.06 | |||
References[]
- ^ "Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey 2017 Response Final". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 15 November 2017.
- ^ Watson, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.
External links[]
- Electoral divisions of Australia
- Constituencies established in 1992
- 1992 establishments in Australia