Electoral district of Camden

Camden New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Location within Sydney
State or territory:	New South Wales
Created:	1859, 1981
Abolished:	1920
MP:	Chris Patterson
Party:	Liberal Party of Australia
Electors:	50,907 (2011)
Area:	228 km² (88 sq mi)
Demographic:	Rural

Camden is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's south-west. It is currently represented by Chris Patterson of the Liberal Party of Australia.

History

Camden was originally created in 1859, replacing part of West Camden and named after the town of Camden or Camden County, which includes Camden, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra. It elected two members from 1859 to 1889 and three members from 1889 to 1894, when multi-member electorates were abolished. It was abolished in 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation and absorbed into Cumberland. It was recreated in 1981. In recent decades it has been a marginal seat, falling to both the Labor and Liberal parties on separate occasions.

Members for Camden

First incarnation (1859—1889, 2 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Henry Oxley	None	1859—1860		William Wild	None	1859—1860
	John Morrice	None	1860—1872		John Douglas	None	1860—1861
					David Bell	None	1861—1864
					Richard Roberts	None	1864—1869
					Arthur Onslow	None	1869—1880
	Thomas Garrett	None	1872—1887
					John Kidd	None	1880—1882
					William McCourt	None	1882—1885
					John Kidd	None	1885—1887
		Free Trade	1887—1889		William McCourt	Free Trade	1887—1889

(1889—1894, 3 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Thomas Garrett	Free Trade	1889—1891		William McCourt	Free Trade	1889—1894		John Kidd	Protectionist	1889—1894
	William Cullen	Free Trade	1891—1894

(1894—1920, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	John Kidd	Protectionist	1894—1895
	Charles Bull	Free Trade	1895—1898
	John Kidd	Protectionist	1898—1901
		Progressive	1901—1904
	Frederick Downes	Liberal Reform	1904—1913
	John Hunt	Liberal Reform	1913—1917
		Nationalist	1917—1920
Second incarnation (1981—present, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	Ralph Brading	Labor	1981—1984
	John Fahey	Liberal	1984—1988
	Peter Primrose	Labor	1988—1991
	Liz Kernohan	Liberal	1991—2003
	Geoff Corrigan	Labor	2003—2011
	Chris Patterson	Liberal	2011—present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Camden

New South Wales state election, 2011: Camden
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Chris Patterson	27,847	60.5	+21.9
	Labor	Geoff Corrigan	12,115	26.3	-18.5
	Greens	Danica Sajn	2,748	6.0	+0.8
	Family First	Domenic Zappia	1,954	4.2	+4.2
	Christian Democrats	Colin Broadbridge	1,385	3.0	-0.8
Total formal votes			46,049	96.4	-0.4
Informal votes			1,716	3.6	+0.4
Turnout			47,765	94.8
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal	Chris Patterson	29,363	68.9	+22.8
	Labor	Geoff Corrigan	13,279	31.1	-22.8
	Liberal gain from Labor		Swing	+22.8

External links

• "Camden". New South Wales Electoral Commission. http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/profiles/district_profiles/camden. Retrieved 2011-10-12.