Division of Watson

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Watson
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of WATSON 2016.png
Division of Watson in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created1992
MPTony Burke
PartyLabor
NamesakeChris Watson
Electors107,810 (2019)
Area47 km2 (18.1 sq mi)
DemographicInner Metropolitan

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

History[]

Chris Watson, the division's namesake

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
  No image.svg 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 Portrait 2008.jpg 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[]

2019 Australian federal election: Watson[2]
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
Graph of Primary Vote Results in Watson (Parties that never got 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Labor
  Liberal
  Greens
  Christian Democrats
  Australian Democrats
  Unity
Graph of Two Candidate Preferred Results in Watson

References[]

  1. ^ "Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey 2017 Response Final". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 15 November 2017.
  2. ^ Watson, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links[]

Coordinates: 33°54′29″S 151°04′37″E / 33.908°S 151.077°E / -33.908; 151.077

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