The Division of Barton is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.
| Barton Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
 Division of Barton in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election | |
| Created | 1922 |
| MP | Linda Burney |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | Sir Edmund Barton |
| Electors | 110,484 (2022) |
| Area | 40 km2 (15.4 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan |
History
edit.jpg)
The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia. For much of its history, Barton has been a marginal seat, held by the Australian Labor Party for most of the time after 1940, but won by the Liberals (or their predecessors) at "high-tide" elections.
Barton's most prominent member has been Dr H. V. Evatt, who was Leader of the Labor Party between 1951 and 1960. After seeing his majority more than halved in 1949, and nearly being defeated in 1951 and 1955, he transferred to the safe seat of Hunter in 1958. A former minister in the Hawke and Keating ministries, Gary Punch, held the seat for Labor between 1983 and 1996. Robert McClelland, Attorney-General in the Rudd and Gillard governments, held the seat for Labor between 1996 and 2013.
Nickolas Varvaris won the seat for the Liberals at the 2013 federal election, achieving a swing of 7.2 percent to finish with a two-party-preferred vote of just 50.3 percent, which made Barton the Coalition government's most marginal seat,[1] but was defeated in 2016 by Labor’s former state deputy opposition leader Linda Burney,[2] who has held the seat ever since.
The Division of Barton is linked to one of the more unusual episodes in Australian politics. The first member for Barton, Labor's Frederick McDonald, disappeared after his 1925 defeat by Nationalist Thomas Ley, and it is now believed that Ley had him murdered.[3] After being found guilty of an unrelated murder in England in 1947, Ley was declared insane[4] and died in Broadmoor Asylum four months later.
Boundaries
editSince 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been 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.[5]
The division has always been based in the inner southern suburbs of Sydney, and currently includes the suburbs of Arncliffe, Banksia, Bardwell Park, Bardwell Valley, Bexley, Bexley North, Brighton-Le-Sands, Clemton Park, Earlwood, Kyeemagh, Rockdale, Tempe, Turrella, Undercliffe, and Wolli Creek; as well as parts of Belmore, Beverly Hills, Campsie, Canterbury, Carlton, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Hurstville, Kingsgrove, Kogarah, Marrickville, and Penshurst.[6]
Demographics
edit| 2021 Australian census[7] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancestry | |||
| Response | Barton | NSW | Australia |
| Chinese | 19.0% | 7.2% | 5.5% |
| Australian | 12.5% | 29.8% | 33.0% |
| Greek | 9.6% | 1.8% | 1.7% |
| Lebanese | 6.1% | 2.2% | 1.0% |
| Country of birth | |||
| Response | Barton | NSW | Australia |
| Australia | 45.8% | 65.4% | 66.9% |
| China | 9.7% | 3.1% | 2.2% |
| Nepal | 4.7% | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| Greece | 3.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Lebanon | 2.4% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| Philippines | 2.0% | 1.3% | 1.2% |
| Religious affiliation | |||
| Response | Barton | NSW | Australia |
| No religion | 28.9% | 32.8% | 38.4% |
| Catholicism | 19.5% | 22.4% | 20.0% |
| Eastern Orthodoxy | 12.8% | 2.5% | 2.1% |
| Islam | 8.2% | 4.3% | 3.2% |
| Language spoken at home | |||
| English | 37.1% | 67.6% | 72.0% |
| Mandarin | 9.2% | 3.4% | 2.7% |
| Greek | 7.3% | 1.0% | 0.9% |
| Arabic | 6.8% | 2.8% | 1.4% |
| Cantonese | 6.0% | 1.8% | 1.2% |
| Nepali | 4.7% | 0.8% | 0.5% |
Members
edit
.png)
.jpg)
Election results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Linda Burney | 46,206 | 50.43 | +1.24 | |
| Liberal | John Goody | 23,992 | 26.19 | −7.30 | |
| Greens | Taylor Vandijk | 11,441 | 12.49 | +3.46 | |
| United Australia | Dimitri Honos | 5,611 | 6.12 | +3.83 | |
| One Nation | Phillip Pollard | 4,373 | 4.77 | +1.11 | |
| Total formal votes | 91,623 | 92.52 | +2.05 | ||
| Informal votes | 7,405 | 7.48 | −2.05 | ||
| Turnout | 99,028 | 89.72 | −1.46 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Linda Burney | 60,054 | 65.54 | +6.13 | |
| Liberal | John Goody | 31,569 | 34.46 | −6.13 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | +6.13 | |||
References
edit- ^ 2013 federal election results: AEC
- ^ Barton - 2016 federal election: Antony Green ABC
- ^ O'Neill, Margot; Evans, Brett (26 April 2004). "Lateline History Challenge: Minister for Murder". Lateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original (transcript) on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- ^ "Ley declared insane at time of murder". The Canberra Times. 7 May 1947. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
- ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
- ^ "Profile of the electoral division of Barton (NSW)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ "2021 Barton, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics".
- ^ Barton, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.