Division of Watson

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

This article is about the current federal electorate. For the previous electorate, see Division of Watson (1934–1969).

Watson
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Watson in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created1992
MPTony Burke
PartyLabor
NamesakeChris Watson
Electors108,806 (2022)
Area47 km2 (18.1 sq mi)
DemographicInner metropolitan

History
Chris Watson, the division's namesake

The division was created at the redistribution of 31 January 1992, to replace the abolished Division of St George and is named after the Right Honourable Chris Watson, the first Labor Prime Minister of Australia. It was first contested at the 1993 federal election. There was previously another Division of Watson (1934-69), originally Chris Watson's old seat of South Sydney and located in the south-eastern suburbs of Sydney, however that Division is not connected to this one except in name. In the 2009 redistribution, the boundaries of Watson moved significantly northwest, losing the south-eastern suburbs in the St George area such as Hurstville, retaining the south-western suburbs such as Belmore, and adding a significant part of the Inner West.

While St George was a marginal seat, Watson has been a safe Labor seat for nearly all of its existence. The only time that Labor's hold was seriously threatened was in 2010, when Labor was held to 56 percent of the two-party vote.

It has previously been held by Leo McLeay, a former Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives. The current Member for Watson, since the 2004 federal election, is Tony Burke, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

In 2017, the division had the second-highest percentage of "No" responses in the 2017 Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 69.64% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No".[1]

Boundaries

Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[2]

The division is located in the Inner West and inner south-western suburbs of Sydney, and includes the suburbs of Ashbury, Belfield, Burwood Heights, Chullora, Croydon Park, Enfield, Greenacre, Lakemba, Mount Lewis, Punchbowl, Roselands, Strathfield South, Wiley Park; as well as parts of Ashfield, Bankstown, Belmore, Beverly Hills, Burwood, Campsie, Canterbury, Croydon, Croydon Park, Hurlstone Park, Kingsgrove, Lidcombe, Narwee, Padstow, Riverwood, Rookwood, and Summer Hill.

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Leo McLeay
(1945–)		 Labor 13 March 1993 –
31 August 2004		 Previously held the Division of Grayndler. Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Keating. Retired
  Tony Burke
(1969–)		 Labor 9 October 2004 –
present		 Previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Watson
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in New South Wales § Watson.[edit]
2019 Australian federal election: Watson[3]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Tony Burke 43,550 51.69 −3.70
Liberal Mohammad Zaman 24,769 29.40 +4.01
Greens Emmet de Bhaldraithe 5,982 7.10 +0.43
Christian Democrats Karl Schubert 4,522 5.37 −4.19
United Australia Dean Wrightson 3,549 4.21 +4.21
Science Raymond Zeng 1,878 2.23 +0.29
Total formal votes 84,250 87.39 −1.96
Informal votes 12,159 12.61 +1.96
Turnout 96,409 89.45 +1.08
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Tony Burke 53,518 63.52 −4.06
Liberal Mohammad Zaman 30,732 36.48 +4.06
Labor hold Swing−4.06
Primary vote results in Watson (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Labor
  Liberal
  Greens
  Christian Democrats
  Australian Democrats
  Unity
Two-candidate-preferred results in Watson

References
  1. "Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey 2017 Response Final". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 15 November 2017.
  2. Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  3. Watson, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

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