Electoral district of Parramatta

Parramatta New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Location within Sydney
State	New South Wales
Dates current	1856–present
MP	Geoff Lee
Party	Liberal Party of Australia
Namesake	Parramatta
Electors	55,173 (2015)
Area	36 km^2 (13.9 sq mi)

Parramatta is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is currently held by Geoff Lee of the Liberal Party of Australia.

Parramatta is an urban electorate in Sydney's inner north-west, roughly analogous to the City of Parramatta, taking in the suburbs of Camellia, Carlingford, Dundas, Dundas Valley, Ermington, Granville, Harris Park, Melrose Park, North Parramatta, North Rocks, Oatlands, Parramatta, Rosehill, Rydalmere, Telopea and Westmead.^[1]

History

Letter by Sir Thomas Bavin to the electors of Parramatta to support to support the candidature of General Lloyd in 1929.

Parramatta is the only electorate to have existed continuously since the first Legislative Assembly election in 1856. It elected two members simultaneously from 1856 to 1880. In 1920, it absorbed Granville and elected three members under proportional representation. In 1927, it was divided into the single-member electorates of Parramatta, Granville and Auburn.

For most of its single member history since 1927 and prior to 2011 Parramatta was a safe Australian Labor Party seat. Prior to 2011 it was last held by the Liberals by John Books from 1988 to 1991. The Liberal Party had hopes of winning back the seat at the 1994 by-election when it was a marginal ALP seat but the ALP retained the seat with a huge swing towards it.

Labor went into the 2011 election holding the seat with a margin of 13.1 percent, but Liberal challenger Geoff Lee won it on a swing of 25.8 percent, turning it into a safe Liberal seat in one stroke. He was reelected in 2015, the first time in over 80 years that the Liberals (or their predecessors) have been reelected in the seat's single member incarnation.

Members for Parramatta

Two members (1856—1880)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Henry Parker	None	1856–1857		George Oakes	None	1856–1860
	James Byrnes	None	1858–1861
					John Lackey	None	1860–1864
	Arthur Holroyd	None	1861–1864
	James Byrnes	None	1864–1872		James Farnell	None	1864–1874
	Hugh Taylor	None	1872–1880
				Charles Byrnes	None	1874–1877
				William Long	None	1877–1880

Single-member (1880—1920)
Member		Party	Term
	Charles Byrnes	None	1880–1882
	Hugh Taylor	None	1882–1887
		Free Trade	1887–1894
	Dowell O'Reilly	Independent Free Trade	1894–1895
		Free Trade	1895–1898
	William Ferris	Protectionist	1898–1901
	Tom Moxham	Liberal Reform	1901–1916
	Albert Bruntnell	Liberal Reform	1916–1917
		Nationalist	1917–1920

Three members (1920—1927)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Albert Bruntnell	Nationalist	1920–1927		Bill Ely	Labor	1920–1922		Jack Lang	Labor	1920–1927
				Thomas Morrow	Nationalist	1922–1925
				Bill Ely	Labor	1925–1927

Single-member (1927—present)
Member		Party	Term
	Albert Bruntnell	Nationalist	1927–1929
	Herbert Lloyd	Nationalist	1929–1930
	Joseph Byrne	Labor	1930–1932
	George Gollan	United Australia	1932–1945
		Liberal	1945–1953
	Kevin Morgan	Labor	1953–1956
	Jim Clough	Liberal	1956–1959
	Dan Mahoney	Labor	1959–1976
	Barry Wilde	Labor	1976–1988
	John Books	Liberal	1988–1991
	Andrew Ziolkowski	Labor	1991–1994
	Gabrielle Harrison	Labor	1994–2003
	Tanya Gadiel	Labor	2003–2011
	Geoff Lee	Liberal	2011–present

Election results

New South Wales state election, 2015: Parramatta[2][3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Geoff Lee	25,559	53.8	+5.3
	Labor	James Shaw	13,649	28.8	+1.4
	Greens	Phil Bradley	3,978	8.4	−0.3
	Christian Democrats	Kamal Boutros	1,603	3.4	−0.7
	Independent	Michelle Garrard	1,519	3.2	+3.2
	No Land Tax	Frank Arduca	672	1.4	+1.4
		Joanne Kuniansky	490	1.0	+1.0
Total formal votes			47,470	96.3	+0.8
Informal votes			1,812	3.7	−0.8
Turnout			49,282	89.3	+5.1
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Geoff Lee	26,932	62.9	+0.3
	Labor	James Shaw	15,910	37.1	−0.3
	Liberal hold		Swing	+0.3

References

1. "Parramatta". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2015-03-10.
2. State Electoral District of Parramatta: First Preference Votes, NSWEC.
3. State Electoral District of Parramatta: Distribution of Preferences, NSWEC.