Division of Wentworth

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

Wentworth
Division of Wentworth in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created1901
MPDave Sharma
PartyLiberal
NamesakeWilliam Charles Wentworth
Electors103,567 (2019)
Area38 km2 (14.7 sq mi)
DemographicInner Metropolitan

History

William Charles Wentworth, the division's namesake

The division was proclaimed in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. The division is named after William Charles Wentworth (1790–1872), an Australian explorer and statesman. In 1813 he accompanied Blaxland and Lawson on their crossing of the Blue Mountains.

Historically considered a safe seat for the Liberal Party of Australia, Wentworth is one of only two original federation divisions in New South Wales, along with the Division of North Sydney, which have never been held by the Australian Labor Party, though Labor candidate Jessie Street came within 1.6 percent of winning Wentworth at the 1943 election landslide. The electorate is the nation's wealthiest, contains the nation's largest Jewish population and contains the nation's fifth-largest number of same-sex couples.[1]

Its most prominent member was Malcolm Turnbull, who served as Prime Minister of Australia from September 2015 until August 2018. Other prominent members have included Sir Eric Harrison, who was the first Deputy of the Liberal Party; Les Bury and Bob Ellicott, who both served as prolific ministers in successive Liberal governments of the 1960s and 1970s; Peter Coleman, who had served as New South Wales Opposition Leader from 1977 until he lost his seat in the 1978 state election; and John Hewson, who served as Opposition Leader from 1990 to 1994, and who like Turnbull after him served as the federal Liberal leader whilst in his second term as the MP for Wentworth.

In August 2018, a challenge by Peter Dutton led to two Liberal leadership spills. Following the second spill on 24 August 2018, Treasurer Scott Morrison defeated Dutton in a leadership ballot. Turnbull did not nominate as a candidate, and immediately resigned as Prime Minister. On 31 August 2018 Turnbull resigned from Parliament,[2] triggering the 2018 Wentworth by-election on 20 October 2018,[3] which was won by independent candidate Kerryn Phelps.[4] Phelps lost her seat to Dave Sharma in a rematch on 18 May 2019.

Boundaries

Wentworth is the second-smallest geographical electoral division in the Parliament with an area of just 38 square kilometres (15 sq mi), covering Woolloomooloo along the southern shore of Sydney Harbour to Watsons Bay and down the coast to Clovelly—an area largely coextensive with Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. The western boundary runs along Oxford Street, Flinders Street and South Dowling Street, then eastward along Alison Road to Randwick Racecourse and Clovelly Beach. It includes the suburbs of Bellevue Hill, Ben Buckler, Bondi, Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction, Bronte, Centennial Park, Darling Point, Double Bay, Dover Heights, Edgecliff, Moore Park, North Bondi, Paddington, Point Piper, Queens Park, Rose Bay, Rushcutters Bay, Tamarama, Vaucluse, Watsons Bay, Waverley, and Woollahra; as well as parts of Clovelly, Darlinghurst, East Sydney, Elizabeth Bay, Kings Cross, Potts Point, and Randwick.

Members

Image Member Party Term Notes
  Sir William McMillan
(1850–1926)
Free Trade 29 March 1901
23 November 1903
Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Burwood. Retired
  Willie Kelly
(1877–1960)
Free Trade 16 December 1903
1906
Served as minister under Cook. Retired
  Anti-Socialist 1906 –
26 May 1909
  Commonwealth Liberal 26 May 1909 –
17 February 1917
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
3 November 1919
  Walter Marks
(1875–1951)
Nationalist 13 December 1919
September 1929
Lost seat
  Independent Nationalist September 1929 –
2 December 1929
  Australian 2 December 1929 –
September 1930
  Independent September 1930 –
7 May 1931
  United Australia 7 May 1931 –
19 December 1931
  (Sir) Eric Harrison
(1892–1974)
United Australia 19 December 1931
21 February 1945
Served as minister under Lyons, Page, Menzies and Fadden. Resigned in order to become the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom
  Liberal 21 February 1945 –
17 October 1956
  Les Bury
(1913–1986)
Liberal 8 December 1956
11 April 1974
Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton and McMahon. Lost preselection and retired
  Bob Ellicott
(1927–)
Liberal 18 May 1974
17 February 1981
Served as minister under Fraser. Resigned in order to become a judge on the Federal Court
  Peter Coleman
(1928–2019)
Liberal 11 April 1981
5 June 1987
Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Fuller. Retired
  John Hewson
(1946–)
Liberal 11 July 1987
28 February 1995
Served as Opposition Leader from 1990 to 1994. Resigned in order to retire from politics
  Andrew Thomson
(1961–)
Liberal 8 April 1995
8 October 2001
Served as minister under Howard. Lost preselection and retired
  Peter King
(1952–)
Liberal 10 November 2001
3 September 2004
Lost preselection and then lost seat
  Independent 3 September 2004 –
9 October 2004
  Malcolm Turnbull
(1954–)
Liberal 9 October 2004
31 August 2018
Served as minister under Howard and Abbott. Served as Opposition Leader from 2008 to 2009. Served as Prime Minister from 2015 to 2018. Resigned in order to retire from politics
  Kerryn Phelps
(1957–)
Independent 20 October 2018
18 May 2019
Lost seat
  Dave Sharma
(1975–)
Liberal 18 May 2019
present
Incumbent

Election results

2019 Australian federal election: Wentworth[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Dave Sharma 42,575 47.44 −14.82
Independent Kerryn Phelps 29,109 32.43 +32.43
Labor Tim Murray 9,824 10.95 −6.78
Greens Dominic Wy Kanak 6,759 7.53 −7.33
United Australia Michael Bloomfield 625 0.70 +0.70
Independent Matthew Drake-Brockman 516 0.57 +0.57
Christian Democrats Paul Treacy 346 0.39 −0.68
Total formal votes 89,754 97.01 +2.14
Informal votes 2,771 2.99 −2.14
Turnout 92,525 89.40 +3.16
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Dave Sharma 53,716 59.85 −7.90
Labor Tim Murray 36,038 40.15 +7.90
Two-candidate-preferred result
Liberal Dave Sharma 46,050 51.31 −16.44
Independent Kerryn Phelps 43,704 48.69 +48.69
Liberal gain from Independent SwingN/A

References

  1. William Bowe. "2018 Wentworth by-election". The Poll Bludger. Retrieved 30 October 2018.
  2. Hutchens, Gareth (27 August 2018). "Malcolm Turnbull to trigger byelection by quitting parliament on Friday". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  3. 2018 Wentworth by-election guide: Antony Green ABC
  4. Commentary, 2018 Wentworth by-election: Antony Green ABC
  5. Wentworth, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

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