Division of Bennelong

Bennelong Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Bennelong (green) in New South Wales
Created:	1949
MP:	John Alexander
Party:	Liberal
Namesake:	Bennelong
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.

Electoral history

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, to exclude the wealthy Lane Cove and Hunters Hill in the East, and to incorporate 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.

2004 election

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. 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

Balloons demonstrating the extent of the electioneering that occurred in Bennelong at the 2007 federal election.

An Epping polling booth within Bennelong.

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 their 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. Following initial reluctance to officially call the outcome (despite confidence of success), McKew declared victory officially on 1 December. At that time, the Australian Electoral Commission showed McKew ahead on a two candidate preferred basis, 43,272 votes to 41,159; 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. The Electoral Commission has declared the seat, with 44,685 votes for McKew to 42,251 for Howard; voter turnout in Bennelong was 95%.

Polls

Bennelong – Two-party-preferred

Date	Poller	Coalition	Labor
3 October 1998	1998 election	56.03%	43.97%
4–5 April 2001	Roy Morgan	57%	43%
10 November 2001	2001 election	57.70%	42.30%
9 October 2004	2004 election	54.33%	45.67%
14–15 February 2007	Roy Morgan	45%	55%
9–10 May 2007	Galaxy[citation needed]	48%	52%
8–9 August 2007	Galaxy[citation needed]	47%	53%

2010 election

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. After a long and high profile campaign in the former Prime Minister's seat, Alexander and the Liberals attained the seat from Labor and increased both their 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 Governments loss of its parliamentary majority.

McKew said Labor had failed to repeat the professional and targeted campaign of 2007. She also conceded that the removal of Mr Rudd had been a factor and the Government's dumping of the emissions trading scheme and a lacklustre national campaign for the party's poor showing.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	John Cramer	Liberal	1949—1974
	John Howard	Liberal	1974—2007
	Maxine McKew	Labor	2007—2010
	John Alexander	Liberal	2010—present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Bennelong

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-candidate 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

External links

• Division of Bennelong – Australian Electoral Commission