Division of Dobell

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

Dobell
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Dobell in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created1984
MPEmma McBride
PartyLabor
NamesakeSir William Dobell
Electors117,359 (2019)
Area787 km2 (303.9 sq mi)
DemographicProvincial

History
Sir William Dobell, the division's namesake

The Division of Dobell was created in 1984 and is named in honour of Sir William Dobell, the painter. Dobell was originally a fairly safe seat for the Australian Labor Party, but grew increasingly marginal from 1996 onward. The seat was ultimately won by the Liberal Party in the 2001 election. The Liberals consolidated their hold on the seat at the 2004 election; however Labor regained the seat at the 2007 election when Craig Thomson defeated Ken Ticehurst.

Its most prominent members have been Michael Lee, a former minister in the Keating government and later Councillor for the City of Sydney, who held the seat for Labor between 1984 and 2001; and Craig Thomson.

Thomson, a former union official, was elected to represent Labor in 2007 and gained notoriety when, as part of the Health Services Union expenses affair, it was alleged there was improper use of Thomson's union-issued corporate credit card. In April 2012, Thomson sought suspension from the Labor Party and sat on the crossbench as an independent member of the House of Representatives.[1] Thomson stood as an independent candidate at the subsequent 2013 Federal Election and received 4% of the vote. After leaving parliament, Thomson was found guilty of fraud.[2]

A redistribution prior to the 2016 federal election saw Dobell change from a marginal Liberal seat in to a notional marginal Labor seat with a notional Labor two-party margin of 0.2 percent.[3] Incumbent Liberal member Karen McNamara re-contested the seat,[4] but was defeated by Labor candidate Emma McBride, the daughter of former state MP Grant McBride, on a swing of four percent.

Boundaries

The division is located in the Central Coast region and includes the towns of The Entrance, Tuggerah and Wyong. The electorate stretches from Blue Haven in the north to Wyoming in the south, from The Entrance in the East through the Jilliby Valley. The division includes the suburbs Bateau Bay, Berkeley Vale, Blue Haven, The Entrance, Gorokan, Jilliby, Lisarow, Ourimbah, Toukley, Tuggerah, Tumbi Umbi, Wamberal, Wyoming, and Wyong.

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Michael Lee
(1957–)		 Labor 1 December 1984 –
10 November 2001		 Served as minister under Keating. Lost seat
  Ken Ticehurst
(1945–)		 Liberal 10 November 2001 –
24 November 2007		 Lost seat
  Craig Thomson
(1964–)		 Labor 24 November 2007 –
29 April 2012		 Lost seat
  Independent 29 April 2012 –
7 September 2013
  Karen McNamara
(1964–)		 Liberal 7 September 2013 –
2 July 2016		 Lost seat
  Emma McBride
(1975–)		 Labor 2 July 2016 –
present		 Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Dobell
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in New South Wales § Dobell[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Dobell[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Emma McBride 42,093 41.49 −1.39
Liberal Jilly Pilon 41,326 40.73 +2.89
Greens Scott Rickard 7,579 7.47 +1.67
United Australia Aaron Harpley-Carr 5,411 5.33 +5.33
Independent Gregory Stephenson 3,176 3.13 +1.91
Christian Democrats Paula Grundy 1,868 1.84 −0.80
Total formal votes 101,453 94.03 −0.17
Informal votes 6,439 5.97 +0.17
Turnout 107,892 92.05 +0.11
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Emma McBride 52,244 51.50 −3.31
Liberal Jilly Pilon 49,209 48.50 +3.31
Labor hold Swing−3.31

References
  1. "Embattled Thomson suspended from Labor Party". ABC News. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  2. Cooper, Adam (18 February 2014). "Craig Thomson found guilty of fraud, theft charges". Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  3. 2016 election pendulum: Antony Green ABC
  4. Dobell - 2016 federal election: Antony Green ABC
  5. Dobell, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.