Division of Mackellar

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

Mackellar
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Mackellar in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created1949
MPJason Falinski
PartyLiberal
NamesakeSir Charles Mackellar
Dorothea Mackellar
Electors110,899 (2019)
Area233 km2 (90.0 sq mi)
DemographicOuter Metropolitan

History
Sir Charles and
Dorothea Mackellar, the division's namesakes

The division is named after Sir Charles Mackellar, a social reformer and surgeon who served in the Senate from October to November 1903, and his daughter Dorothea Mackellar, a 20th-century Australian poet. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 federal election.

Like most seats in northern Sydney, Mackellar is a safe seat for the Liberal Party of Australia. It was first held by Bill Wentworth, the first Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and the great-grandson of politician and explorer William Wentworth, one of the first three Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains. The seat has been in Liberal hands for all but two months of its existence; Wentworth briefly sat as an independent for the last two months of his term. The Liberals' hold on the seat has been only remotely threatened once, when Wentworth only tallied 55.2 percent of the two-party vote in 1972. That election is also the only time to date that the Liberals have come up short of winning enough votes on the first count to win the seat outright.

Most of this area has been represented by centre-right MPs since Federation; it was part of North Sydney before 1922, and then part of Warringah from 1922 to 1949.

Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Bronwyn Bishop held the seat from 1994 until 2016, when she lost a preselection contest for the Liberal Party candidacy following an expenses scandal. The Liberal Party preselected Jason Falinski to contest the seat.[1][2]

Boundaries

The division is located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, adjacent to the Tasman Sea, south of Broken Bay and the Hawkesbury River. The division includes the suburbs of Akuna Bay, Avalon Beach, Bayview, Belrose, Bilgola Beach, Bilgola Plateau, Careel Bay, Church Point, Clareville, Coasters Retreat, Collaroy, Collaroy Plateau, Cottage Point, Cromer, Davidson, Duffys Forest, Elanora Heights, Elvina Bay, Great Mackerel Beach, Ingleside, Lovett Bay, McCarrs Creek, Mona Vale, Morning Bay, Narrabeen, Newport, North Narrabeen, Oxford Falls, Palm Beach, Scotland Island, Terrey Hills, Towlers Bay, Warriewood, Whale Beach, and Wheeler Heights; as well as parts of Beacon Hill, Dee Why, Forestville, Frenchs Forest, and Narraweena.

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Bill Wentworth
(1907–2003)		 Liberal 10 December 1949 –
October 1977		 Served as minister under Gorton and McMahon. Did not contest in 1977. Failed to win a Senate seat
  Independent October 1977 –
10 December 1977
  Jim Carlton
(1935–2015)		 Liberal 10 December 1977 –
14 January 1994		 Served as minister under Fraser. Resigned in order to retire from politics
  Bronwyn Bishop
(1942–)		 Liberal 26 March 1994 –
9 May 2016		 Previously a member of the Senate. Served as minister under Howard. Served as Speaker during the Abbott Government. Lost preselection and retired
  Jason Falinski
(1970–)		 Liberal 2 July 2016 –
present		 Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Mackellar
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in New South Wales § Mackellar[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Mackellar[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Jason Falinski 52,088 53.01 +1.84
Labor Declan Steele 16,648 16.94 −0.38
Independent Alice Thompson 11,975 12.19 +12.19
Greens Pru Wawn 11,283 11.48 −2.57
Sustainable Australia Suzanne Daly 2,550 2.60 +2.60
United Australia David Lyon 2,317 2.36 +2.36
Christian Democrats Greg Levett 1,401 1.43 −1.13
Total formal votes 98,262 95.29 +0.55
Informal votes 4,857 4.71 −0.55
Turnout 103,119 93.05 +1.39
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Jason Falinski 62,124 63.22 −2.52
Labor Declan Steele 36,138 36.78 +2.52
Liberal hold Swing−2.52
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References
  1. Maiden, Samantha (16 April 2016). "Bronwyn Bishop's battle for preselection for seat of Mackellar". Sunday Telegraph. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  2. Dole, Nick (16 April 2016). "Bronwyn Bishop dumped as Liberal candidate for seat of Mackellar". ABC News. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  3. Mackellar, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

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