Electoral district of Pittwater

Location within Sydney

Pittwater is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. Located in Sydney's north-east, it is 175.32 km² in size, and comprises the local government area of Pittwater Council and parts of Warringah Council. There are approximately 43,000 registered voters.

It is named after Pittwater, a body of water the district roughly surrounds.

It includes the suburbs or localities of Avalon, Bayview, Bilgola, Church Point, Cottage Point, Duffys Forest, Elanora Heights, Ingleside, Ku-ring-gai Chase, Mona Vale, Narrabeen, Newport, North Narrabeen, Palm Beach, Scotland Island, Terrey Hills, and Warriewood.

The current Member of Parliament for Pittwater is Rob Stokes of the Liberal Party of Australia. He was elected at the 2007 state election and re-elected in 2011.

History

The electoral district of Pittwater was created in 1973, and quickly developed a reputation as a safe Liberal seat. The first member elected to the seat was Sir Robert William Askin, then Premier of New South Wales.

The seat was famously held by New South Wales Opposition Leader John Brogden until his dramatic resignation in 2005. The Liberal stranglehold on the seat was lost in the resulting by-election when the Mayor of Pittwater Council, Alex McTaggart, standing as an Independent candidate, defeated the Liberal Paul Nicolau in a landslide.

Current member

Alex McTaggart lost the seat in the 2007 general election, with new Liberal candidate Rob Stokes comfortably regaining the seat for his party. Stokes won on the primary vote alone, gaining just over 50%. After preferences, his share was 61% to McTaggart's 39%. Stokes won every booth in the district with the exception of Scotland Island, whose few hundred offshore voters traditionally buck the trend.

Members for Pittwater

Member		Party	Period
	Robert Askin	Liberal	1973—1975
	Bruce Webster	Liberal	1975—1978
	Max Smith	Liberal	1978—1984
		Independent	1984—1986
	Jim Longley	Liberal	1986—1996
	John Brogden	Liberal	1996—2005
	Alex McTaggart	Independent	2005—2007
	Rob Stokes	Liberal	2007—present

Election results

See also: Electoral results for the district of Pittwater

New South Wales state election, 2011: Pittwater
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Rob Stokes	32,225	72.0	+21.7
	Greens	Jonathan King	7,536	16.8	+7.1
	Labor	Pat Boydell	4,023	9.0	+1.6
	Christian Democrats	Mark McFarlane	986	2.2	-1.1
Total formal votes			44,770	97.7	-0.1
Informal votes			1,048	2.3	+0.1
Turnout			45,818	92.8
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal	Rob Stokes	33,180	78.0	+18.6
	Greens	Jonathan King	9,366	22.0	+22.0
	Liberal hold		Swing	+18.6

External links

• "Pittwater". New South Wales Electoral Commission. http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/profiles/district_profiles/pittwater. Retrieved 2011-09-27.