Adam Carr's guide to
the 42nd Parliament
of the
Commonwealth of Australia


The House of Representatives

New South Wales
Dunkley                

Division of Eden-Monaro

                Fadden


Gary Nairn (Lib)

His ministerial website, his Liberal
Party website
and his
campaign website


Dr Mike Kelly AM (ALP)

His ALP website




Keith Hughes (Grn)

His Greens website


Tim Quilty (LDP)

His Liberty and Democtacy website
Location: Southern NSW: Bega, Cooma, Queanbeyan, Tumut
Division named for: The town of Eden and the region of the Monaro. Eden was named in 1842 after George Eden, Earl of Auckland. Monaro is an Indigenous word probably meaning "breast-shaped hills."
Median weekly family income: $805 (115th highest)
Persons born in non English speaking countries: 6.5% (92nd highest)
Persons in professional occupations: 26.1% (65th highest)
Persons employed in tourism: 9.5% (3rd highest)
Persons aged 65 and over: 13.6% (67th highest)
Couple families with dependent children: 36.7% (97th highest)
Dwellings being purchased: 22.3% (103rd highest)
Sitting member: Hon Gary Nairn (Liberal), elected 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004
Born: 3 January 1951, Sydney. Career: Surveyor in private practice, managing director, surveying and mapping consultancy. Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister 2004-06
Special Minister of State from 27 January 2006
1996 two-party majority: Liberal 04.8
1998 two-party majority: Liberal 00.2
Effect of 2001 redistribution: no change
2001 two-party majority: Liberal 01.7
2004 primary votes: Labor 38.7, Liberal 48.5, Green 7.4
2004 two-party majority: Liberal 02.1
Effect of 2006 redistribution: 01.2 shift to Liberal
2007 notional two-party majority: Liberal 03.3
2004 enrolment: 92,532
2007 enrolment: 91,610 (-01.0%) (new boundaries)
Eden-Monaro has existed since Federation, and has always occupied the south-eastern corner of NSW. For most of its history it was a seat based on farming, fishing and timber, but the growth of the Canberra dormitory town of Queanbeyan means that today the largest employment sector is government employment (20.3%), while only 6.3% of the population work in agriculture - fewer than the 10% who work in tourism. Nevertheless the electorate is still sensitive to rural issues: Labor was hurt in this seat by Mark Latham's anti-logging foresty policy in 2004. Eden-Monaro was usually a safe conservative seat until 1943, when it was won for Labor by Allan Fraser, who held it until his defeat in 1966, and again from 1969 to 1972. Gary Nairn won the seat for the Liberals in 1996, maintaining Eden-Monaro's record (since 1972) of always being held by a government member. Nairn has been Special Minister of State since 2006. In 2004 the Liberals polled 71% of the two-party vote in Jerangle, and topped 65% at Adaminiaby, Delegate amd Eden, while Labor polled a remarkable 98% at Wallaga Lake Koori Village and 83% at Tanja, while also carrying all eight Queanbeyan booths. The 2006 redistribution has added Liberal-voting Tumut to the seat. This is one of the few country seats where Labor's base vote has held up, and recent polling shows that Nairn is in serious trouble (see stories below). Nairn was not helped in September by his chief of staff comparing Kelly to a Nazi concentration camp guard (see story below).
Candidates in ballot-paper order
  • Acacia Rose (Independent) is a writer.
  • Dr Mike Kelly AM (Labor) is a lawyer who served for 20 years in the Australian Army, retiring as a Colonel. Until 2007 he was Director of the United Nations and Peace Operations section in the International Policy Division of the Department of Defence.
  • Matthew Chivers (Christian Democrats) is a minister of religion.
  • Peter Harris (Family First) is a migration agent.
  • Gary Nairn (Liberal) is the sitting member: see biography above.
  • Tim Quilty (Liberty and Democracy) is a sheep and cattle farmer from Adelong.
  • Keith Hughes (Greens) is a member of Bega Valley Shire Council and is a tutor in economics, statistics and science at the University of Wollongong Bega campus.

    Campaign news
    Rudd endorses high-profile candidate for tightly contested seat
    Odds on for a Labor win (Queanbeyan Age)
    Labor predicted to seize Eden-Monaro: poll
    Minister under fire over 'Nazi' comments row

    Candidates on YouTube
    Mike Kelly
    Gary Nairn

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    Two-party vote by booth, 2004 Click to enlarge map

    Two party swing by booth, 2004 Click to enlarge map

    Members for Eden-Monaro



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