Division of Lindsay

Lindsay
Australian House of Representatives Division

Division of Lindsay (green) in New South Wales
Created 1984
MP Fiona Scott
Party Liberal
Namesake Norman Lindsay
Electors 101,241 (2013)[1]
Area 339 km2 (130.9 sq mi)
Demographic Outer Metropolitan

The Division of Lindsay is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division is named after Sir Norman Lindsay, the prominent Australian artist, writer and sculptor. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 October 1984 and was first contested at the 1984 federal election.

The division is located in the outer western suburbs of Sydney, and is centred on Penrith. It also includes the suburbs of Castlereagh, Mulgoa and Werrington.

The current Member for Lindsay, since the 2013 federal election, is Fiona Scott, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia.

History

The Division of Lindsay has bellwether status. At every federal election since its creation in 1984, its winning member of parliament has been from the party winning government. This has been widely attributed to Lindsay's buildup as an economically sensitive seat. The mortgage belt status of the electorate means fiscal matters such as interest rates, job security, petrol prices and quality of transportation are always critical issues at federal elections. The geographic buildup of the seat consists of Liberal voting areas in the west, Labor voting areas in the east and swing areas in the centre.

Prior to the 1996 election, it was considered a safe Labor seat, as it was located in Labor's longstanding heartland of west Sydney. This ended in 1996, when then member Ross Free was thrown from office by Liberal challenger Jackie Kelly on a swing of nearly 12 percent. Free was one of 13 New South Wales Labor MPs to lose their seats in Labor's heavy defeat that year. However a by-election was called when it was revealed that questions about Kelly's citizenship raised eligibility problems. Kelly won the subsequent by-election with an additional 6.69% swing towards her.

Kelly announced her retirement in 2007 which, together with the 2006 redistribution, made Lindsay vulnerable to the Labor candidate, Penrith Mayor David Bradbury. In his third bid for the seat, Bradbury won with a swing of 9.7% after distribution of preferences, defeating the unsuccessful Liberal candidate Karen Chijoff. Three days before the 2007 federal election Liberal Party supporters, including Jackie Kelly's husband, were caught in Lindsay distributing fake pamphlets in residents' letterboxes which linked the Labor Party to Islamic terrorism. For more details see Lindsay pamphlet scandal. Bradbury narrowly retained the seat in 2010 against Liberal Fiona Scott, but she defeated him at the 2013 election receiving a favourable swing towards her in both elections of 5.16% in 2010 and 4.11% in 2013.

On December 12th, 2015 Emma Husar was chosen to be the Labor candidate for the seat of Lindsay for the 2016 federal election.

Members

MemberPartyTerm
  Ross Free Labor 1984–1996
  Jackie Kelly Liberal 1996–2007
  David Bradbury Labor 2007–2013
  Fiona Scott Liberal 2013–present

Election results

Australian federal election, 2013: Lindsay[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Fiona Scott 40,882 46.64 +3.25
Labor David Bradbury 34,212 39.03 −5.52
Palmer United Andrew Wilcox 4,517 5.15 +5.15
Greens David Lenton 2,679 3.06 −1.68
Christian Democrats Andrew Green 2,449 2.79 −0.22
One Nation Jeffrey Lawson 1,901 2.17 +2.17
Australia First Mick Saunders 610 0.70 −0.47
Stable Population Geoff Brown 408 0.47 +0.47
Total formal votes 87,658 91.79 −0.04
Informal votes 7,837 8.21 +0.04
Turnout 95,495 94.32 −0.11
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Fiona Scott 46,446 52.99 +4.11
Labor David Bradbury 41,212 47.01 −4.11
Liberal gain from Labor Swing +4.11

References

  1. 1 2 "NSW Division – Lindsay, NSW". Virtual Tally Room, Election 2013. Australian Electoral Commission. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 33°45′04″S 150°42′40″E / 33.751°S 150.711°E / -33.751; 150.711

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