Division of Macarthur

Macarthur Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Macarthur (green) in New South Wales
Created	1949
MP	Russell Matheson
Party	Liberal
Namesake	John Macarthur and Elizabeth Macarthur
Electors	97,962 (2013)
Area	798 km2 (308.1 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer Metropolitan

The Division of Macarthur is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division is named after John Macarthur and his wife Elizabeth, who were both pioneers of Australia's wool industry. The main products and work in the electorate are in the fruit and vegetable production, lucerne and fodder crops, wine, dairy cattle and horse-breeding.

Located in outer south-west Sydney and covering 537 square kilometres (207 sq mi), the present boundaries of the division cover the southern suburbs of Campbelltown, all of the local government area of Camden and small parts of Wollondilly. The division covers areas east of the Nepean River between Liverpool and Penrith and south to Camden. It encompasses the suburbs of Airds, Ambarvale, Appin, Badgerys Creek, Bickley Vale, Bradbury, Camden, Camden South, Campbelltown, Cawdor, Cobbitty, Ellis Lane, Gilead, Glen Alpine, Grasmere, Greendale, Harrington Park, Kentlyn, Mount Annan, Narellan, Oran Park, Rosemeadow, Rossmore, St Helens Park, Wedderburn and Woodbine and parts of Bringelly, Catherine Field, Douglas Park, Leumeah, Razorback and Rossmore.

The current Member for Macarthur, since the 2010 federal election, is Russell Matheson, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia.

History

Macarthur has changed hands regularly over the years as redistributions have favoured different parties. Macarthur was a bellwether seat from the time of its establishment in 1949 until the 2007 election - during that 58-year period it was always held by a member of the governing party or coalition. Successive redistributions have shrunk the geographical size of the seat due to the rapid growth of the Campbelltown area. In the redistribution prior to the 2001 federal election, Southern Highlands towns such as Bowral and Moss Vale were removed, shrinking the area to one eighth of its original size and making it an entirely Sydney-based seat. This made the seat notionally Labor by 1.3%, from the previous 5.6% of the Liberals, prompting Liberal minister and former New South Wales premier John Fahey to retire. However, his replacement as Liberal candidate, Pat Farmer, achieved an 8.3% swing to retain the seat for the Liberals, actually tallying a primary vote large enough to win without the need for preferences. He increased the margin from 7 to 9.5% at the 2004 election.

Macarthur was made even safer for the Liberals ahead of the 2007 election, when a redistribution increased the Liberal majority to 11.1%. However, he was nearly defeated in the election, suffering a swing of 10.4%. The swing was spread evenly across the electorate, reflecting its solid mortgage belt character. The swing was particularly large in the heavily mortgaged suburbs of Narellan, Camden and the traditionally more Liberal-voting areas of Campbelltown. Farmer's margin was reduced to an extremely marginal 0.7%. A further redistribution in 2010 made it notionally a Labor seat. Farmer was defeated for Liberal preselection by Campbelltown mayor Russell Matheson, who was able to retain the seat for the Liberals. Matheson gained a large swing in 2013, increasing the Liberal margin to 11.1 percent.

Demographics

While the electorate is predominantly outer-suburban, its contains some semi-rural areas such as Bringelly and Leppington. The population of the electorate is likely to expand significantly over coming years due to the release of new land surrounding Sydney for residential development.

It is a mortgage belt area, with a high percentage of young families, leading to the proportion of residents under 18 being 35%, compared to the national average of 27.2%, with a low proportion of senior citizens (5.9% compared to 12.1%). This is further highlighted in the fact that 23.3% of the population is attending school, compared to the national average of 18.1%. The income is above average, with 19.7% of the families in the electorate earning less than A$500 per week, compared to 24.3% for the national average. The birth demographics of the electorate are similar to the rest of Australia, with the proportion of people born overseas and in non-English speaking countries within one percentage point of the national average.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Jeff Bate	Liberal	1949–1972
		Independent	1972–1972
	John Kerin	Labor	1972–1975
	Michael Baume	Liberal	1975–1983
	Colin Hollis	Labor	1983–1984
	Stephen Martin	Labor	1984–1993
	Chris Haviland	Labor	1993–1996
	John Fahey	Liberal	1996–2001
	Pat Farmer	Liberal	2001–2010
	Russell Matheson	Liberal	2010–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Macarthur

Australian federal election, 2013: Macarthur

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Russell Matheson	46,185	54.33	+6.93
	Labor	Ian Fulton	26,039	30.63	−7.92
	Palmer United	Rob Grosche	4,916	5.78	+5.78
	Greens	Patrick Darley-Jones	3,929	4.62	−0.94
	Christian Democrats	Sarah Ramsay	2,189	2.58	+0.82
	Katter's Australian	Mick Williams	1,751	2.06	+2.06
Total formal votes			85,009	92.17	+0.28
Informal votes			7,225	7.83	−0.28
Turnout			92,234	94.15	−0.37
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Russell Matheson	52,161	61.36	+8.34
	Labor	Ian Fulton	32,848	38.64	−8.34
	Liberal hold		Swing	+8.34

External links

• Division of Macarthur- Australian Electoral Commission