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| Adam Carr's Election Archive
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Australian federal election, 2019
Division of Watson, New South Wales
Inner western Sydney: Ashbury, Campsie, Greenacre, Lakemba, Punchbowl
State seats: Parts of
Auburn,
Bankstown,
Canterbury,
East Hills,
Lakemba,
Strathfield and
Summer Hill
Local government areas: Parts of Ashfield, Auburn, Bankstown, Burwood and Canterbury
Enrolment at close of rolls: 107,810
1999 republic referendum: Yes 54.4
2018 same-sex marriage survey: No 69.6
Sitting member: Hon Tony Burke (Labor):
Elected 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016
2007 Labor majority over Liberal: 20.3%
2010 Labor majority over Liberal: 9.1%
2013 Labor majority over Liberal: 6.8%
2016 Labor majority over Liberal: 17.6%
Status: Very safe Labor
2016 results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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1. Dean Wrightson
United Australia Party |
2. Karl Schubert
Christian Democratic Party |
3. Raymond Zeng
Science Party |
4. Emmet de Bhaldraithe
Australian Greens |
5. Hon Tony Burke
Australian Labor Party |
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6. Mohammad Zaman
Liberal Party |
Candidate websites:
Hon Tony Burke
Emmet de Bhaldraithe
Mohammad Zaman
Division of Watson
Watson was created in 1993, when the old seat of St George was renamed. (There was an earlier seat of Watson from 1934 to
1969, orginally Prime Minister Chris Watson's seat of South Sydney, in much the same area.) It was initially based in
Sydney's inner southern suburbs, a heavily working-class and multi-cultural area, and the centre of Sydney's large and
growing Muslim community. The seat has one of the highest proportion of people born in non English speaking countries
of any electorate. It has the second-highest proportion of Muslims of any seat (after Blaxland).
The 2007 and 2010 redistributions moved Watson to the north and west, so that it shed some of its working-class
territory and gained more middle-class areas in Ashfield, Burwood and Strathfield. As a result, the Labor two-party
vote fell from 20.3% in 2007 to 6.8% in 2013. The 2016 redistribution partly reversed this, removing parts of
Strathfield and Burwood and adding some Labor territory in Canterbury and Punchbowl, and increasing the Labor
margin.
Members for St George included Bill Morrison, a minister in the Whitlam Government. Members for Watson have been
Leo McLeay, a legendary powerbroker in the right-wing faction of the NSW Labor Party, and Tony Burke, who succeeded
him in 2004.
Tony Burke, Labor MP Burke since 2004, was an organiser with the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association
before being elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 2003. He went straight onto the opposition front bench in 2004
and was a senior minister in the Rudd-Gillard Government. He is now Shadow Minister for Environment and Water,
for Citizenship and Multicultural Australia and for the Arts.
The Liberal candidate is Mohammad Zaman, a small business owner. The Greens candidate, Emmet de Bhaldraithe,
is a retail worker.
Demographics:
Median weekly household income: $1,281 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 12.9% (Australia 15.8%)
Australian born: 44.4% (Australia 66.7%)
Ancestry: Lebanese 13.2%, Chinese 11.3%, Greek 5.3
Non-English-speaking households: 69.9% (Australia 22.2%)
Muslim 23.4%, Orthodox Christian 8.1%
Catholics 23.4% (Australia 22.6%)
No religion 15.6% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 22.9% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 29.6% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 21.2% (Australia 22.9%)
Paying a mortgage: 28.2% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 39.4% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 43.1% (Australia 32.8%)
Members for St George (1949-94) and Watson (since 1993):
Bill Graham (Lib) 1949-54
Hon Nelson Lemmon (ALP) 1954-55
Bill Graham (Lib) 1955-58
Lionel Clay (ALP) 1958-63
Leonard Bosman (Lib) 1963-69
Hon Bill Morrison (ALP) 1969-75
Maurice Neil (Lib) 1975-80
Hon Bill Morrison (ALP) 1980-84
Stephen Dubois (ALP) 1984-93
Hon Leo McLeay (ALP) 1993-2004
Hon Tony Burke (ALP) 2004-
Boundaries following 2016 redistribution:
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