Division of Cunningham

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

This article is about the Australian federal electorate. For the former Queensland state electorate, see Electoral district of Cunningham.

Cunningham
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Cunningham in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created1949
MPSharon Bird
PartyLabor
NamesakeAllan Cunningham
Electors115,312 (2019)
Area519 km2 (200.4 sq mi)
DemographicProvincial

History
Allan Cunningham, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham, a 19th-century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland.

The division has always been represented by the Australian Labor Party, except following the 2002 by-election when the Greens won the seat; being the first time that the Greens held a seat in the House of Representatives. Labor recovered the seat at the 2004 federal election. The Illawarra is one of the few non-metropolitan regions where Labor has consistently done well.

Its most prominent members have been Rex Connor, a senior minister in the Whitlam government, and Stephen Martin, who was Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 1993–1996, during the last term of the Keating government. The sitting member, since the 2004 federal election, is Sharon Bird, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

Cunningham is Labor's safest non-metropolitan seat, with a thirteen percent swing needed for the Liberals to win it.

Boundaries

The division is located on the coast of New South Wales between southern Sydney and Wollongong. It takes in the northern portion of Wollongong, including Corrimal, Figtree and Unanderra. It also includes several of Sydney's outer southern suburbs, including Heathcote and Bundeena. The division covers areas east of the Illawarra escarpment and is bounded by the Tasman Sea to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Royal National Park and to the south by the Wollongong suburbs of Figtree, Cordeaux Heights and Coniston. Although the region is primarily rural, the vast majority of the population is located in the northern outskirts of Wollongong and along the eastern seaboard. The main products and means of livelihood in the area are tourism, tertiary education, steel production, coal mining, brick manufacturing, textiles and dairy farming.

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Billy Davies
(1884–1956)		 Labor 10 December 1949 –
17 February 1956		 Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Wollongong-Kembla. Died in office
  Victor Kearney
(1903–1982)		 Labor 1 April 1956 –
1 November 1963		 Retired
  Rex Connor
(1907–1977)		 Labor 30 November 1963 –
22 August 1977		 Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Wollongong-Kembla. Served as minister under Whitlam. Died in office
  Stewart West
(1934–)		 Labor 15 October 1977 –
8 February 1993		 Served as minister under Hawke. Lost preselection and retired
  Dr Stephen Martin
(1948–)		 Labor 13 March 1993 –
16 August 2002		 Previously held the Division of Macarthur. Served as Speaker during the Keating Government. Resigned in order to retire from politics
  Michael Organ
(1956–)		 Greens 19 October 2002 –
9 October 2004		 Lost seat
  Sharon Bird
(1962–)		 Labor 9 October 2004 –
present		 Served as minister under Gillard and Rudd. Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Cunningham
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in New South Wales § Cunningham[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Cunningham[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labor Sharon Bird 46,923 46.61 −1.28
Liberal Chris Atlee 31,177 30.97 +1.81
Greens Rowan Huxtable 15,196 15.09 +0.44
United Australia Grace Younger 3,828 3.80 +3.80
Sustainable Australia John Gill 2,340 2.32 +2.32
Non-Custodial Parents John Flanagan 1,213 1.20 −0.43
Total formal votes 100,677 94.30 −0.86
Informal votes 6,080 5.70 +0.86
Turnout 106,757 92.65 +1.14
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Sharon Bird 63,836 63.41 +0.09
Liberal Chris Atlee 36,841 36.59 −0.09
Labor hold Swing+0.09
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References
  1. Cunningham, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.
  • Division of Cunningham - Australian Electoral Commission
  • Wilson, Peter (2002). The Australian Political Almanack.

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