Division of Dobell

Dobell
Australian House of Representatives Division

Division of Dobell in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created 1984
MP Emma McBride
Party Labor
Namesake Sir William Dobell
Electors 111,736 (2016)
Area 787 km2 (303.9 sq mi)
Demographic Provincial

The Division of Dobell is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1984 and is named for Sir William Dobell, the painter.

The division is located in the Central Coast region and includes the towns of The Entrance, Tuggerah and Wyong. The electorate stretches from Blue Haven in the north to Wyoming in the south, from The Entrance in the East through the Jilliby Valley. The division includes the suburbs Bateau Bay, Berkeley Vale, Blue Haven, The Entrance, Gorokan, Jilliby, Ourimbah, Toukley, Tuggerah, Tumbi Umbi, Wamberal, Wyoming, Wyong.

The Member for Dobell, since the 2016 election, is Emma McBride, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

History

Dobell was originally a fairly safe seat for the Australian Labor Party, but grew increasingly marginal from 1996 onward. The seat was ultimately won by the Liberal Party in the 2001 election. The Liberals consolidated their hold on the seat at the 2004 election; however Labor regained the seat at the 2007 election when Craig Thomson defeated Ken Ticehurst.

Its most prominent members have been Michael Lee, a former minister in the Keating government and later Councillor for the City of Sydney, who held the seat for Labor between 1984 and 2001; and Craig Thomson.

Thomson, a former union official, was elected to represent Labor in 2007 and gained notoriety when, as part of the Health Services Union expenses affair, it was alleged there was improper use of Thomson's union-issued corporate credit card. In April 2012, Thomson sought suspension from the Labor Party and sat on the crossbench as an independent member of the House of Representatives.[1] Thomson stood as an independent candidate at the subsequent 2013 Federal Election and received 4% of the vote. After leaving parliament, Thomson was found guilty of fraud.[2]

A redistribution prior to the 2016 federal election saw Dobell change from a marginal Liberal seat in to a notional marginal Labor seat with a notional Labor two-party margin of 0.2 percent.[3] Incumbent Liberal member Karen McNamara re-contested the seat[4] but failed to gain a swing towards her at the 2016 election and consequently lost the contest.

Members

MemberPartyTerm
  Michael Lee Labor 1984–2001
  Ken Ticehurst Liberal 2001–2007
  Craig Thomson Labor 2007–2012
  Independent 2012–2013
  Karen McNamara Liberal 2013–2016
  Emma McBride Labor 2016–present

Election results

Australian federal election, 2016: Dobell[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labor Emma McBride 41,454 42.88 +6.48
Liberal Karen McNamara 36,586 37.84 −2.97
One Nation Carter Edwards 8,326 8.61 +8.61
Greens Abigail Boyd 5,607 5.80 +0.91
Christian Democrats Hadden Ervin 2,549 2.64 +1.21
Independent Gregory Stephenson 1,176 1.22 +1.22
Independent Paul Baker 976 1.01 +1.01
Total formal votes 96,674 94.20 +1.68
Informal votes 5,956 5.80 −1.68
Turnout 102,630 91.85 −1.18
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Emma McBride 52,991 54.81 +4.63
Liberal Karen McNamara 43,683 45.19 −4.63
Labor hold Swing +4.63

References

  1. ↑ "Embattled Thomson suspended from Labor Party". ABC News. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  2. ↑ Cooper, Adam (18 February 2014). "Craig Thomson found guilty of fraud, theft charges". Sydney Morning Herald. AAP. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
  3. ↑ 2016 election pendulum: Antony Green ABC
  4. ↑ Dobell - 2016 federal election: Antony Green ABC
  5. ↑ Dobell, NSW, Virtual Tally Room 2016, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Coordinates: 33°14′53″S 151°21′58″E / 33.248°S 151.366°E / -33.248; 151.366

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/27/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.