| New England |
Division of Newcastle | North Sydney |
 Sharon Grierson (ALP) Her ALP website and her campaign website  Krysia Walker (Lib) Her Liberal Party website  Milton Caine (CDP) His website  Charmian Eckersley (Grn) Her Greens website  Aaron Johnson (Dem) His Democrats website  Geoff Payne (SA) His Socialist Alliance website |
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Location: North Central NSW: Lambton, Mayfield, Newcastle, Waratah Division named for: The City of Newcastle, named in 1804 after Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England Median weekly family income: $820 (110th highest) Persons born in non English speaking countries: 6.6% (90th highest) Persons in professional occupations: 27.1% (60th highest) Persons aged 65 and over: 16.6% (18th highest) Couple families with dependent children: 32.1% (136th highest) Dwellings being purchased: 22.3% (101st highest) Sitting member: Sharon Grierson (Labor), elected 2001, 2004 Born: 4 May 1951. Career: Teacher, school principal, Director Tinonee Gardens Multicultural Village, Community Director Honeysuckle Development Corporation Board. 1996 two-party majority: Labor 11.2 1998 two-candidate majority: Labor over Greens 17.3* Effect of 2001 redistribution: cannot be calculated 2001 two-party majority: Labor 07.0 2004 primary votes: Labor 46.0, Liberal 35.5, Green 11.9 2004 two-party majority: Labor 10.0 Effect of 2006 redistribution: 01.3 shift to Liberal 2007 notional two-party majority: Labor 08.7 * The Liberal Party did not contest Newcastle in 1998 2004 enrolment: 90,360 2007 enrolment: 93,455 (+03.4%) (new boundaries) Newcastle has existed since Federation, and has always been based on the industrial port of the same name. It has the distinction of being the only federal electorate to have been held by the same political party for the entire 106 years since the first federal election: in that time it has had only five members, all Labor. Newcastle has been in decline for many years as its traditional coal-and-steel industrial base disappears. It has an ageing population (high proportion of over-65s, low proportion of families with dependent children), and thus a low level of median family income. On the other hand it has relatively high proportions of people born in non English speaking countries and people in professional occupations, both usually signs of dynamism. Newcastle has always been safe for Labor and remains so today, although possibly vulnerable to an independent, as the state seat of Newcastle increasingly is. In 2004 Labor carried all but four booths, and polled more than 70% of the two-party in Carrington, Hamilton North, Islington, Maryville Wickham and Tighes Hill. The Liberals carried Adamstown Heights and three booths in Merewether. Sharon Grierson won Newcastle for Labor in 2001. Candidates in ballot-paper order |
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Two-party vote by booth, 2004
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