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| Lyons |
Division of Macarthur | McEwen |
 Hon Pat Farmer (Lib) His electorate website |  |
Location: South-west of Sydney: Camden, Campbelltown, Narellan, Picton Division named for: John Macarthur and Elizabeth Macarthur, founders of the Australian wool industry Median weekly family income: $1,111 (33rd highest) Persons born in non English speaking countries: 9.8% (76th highest) Persons in professional occupations: 20.7% (122nd highest) Persons aged 65 and over: 7.1% (140th highest) Couple families with dependent children: 45.3% (20th highest) Dwellings being purchased: 39.6% (14th highest) Sitting member: Hon Pat Farmer (Liberal), elected 2001, 2004, 2007 Born: 14 March 1962, Sydney. Career: Automotive engineer, landscape gardener, distance runner and motivational speaker. Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education, Science and Training 2004-07. Member, Opposition Shadow Ministry 2007-08. Shadow Minister for Youth and Sport 2007-08. 1996 two-party majority: Liberal 10.7 1998 two-party majority: Liberal 05.6 Effect of 2001 redistribution: 07.3 shift to Labor 2001 two-party majority: Liberal 07.0 2004 two-party majority: Liberal 09.5 Effect of 2006 redistribution: 01.6 shift to Liberal 2007 notional two-party majority: Liberal 11.1 2007 two-party majority: Liberal 00.7 
2004 enrolment: 84,285 2007 enrolment: 84,645 (+00.6%) (new boundaries) Macarthur was created in 1949, and has usually been located in the farming towns to the south-west of Sydney, although at different times at has been drawn into both the Sydney suburbs and the outskirts of Wollongong. Until the 1970s it was a fairly safe Liberal seat, while from 1984 to 1993, when it included parts of Wollongong, it was a safe Labor seat. Today it is once again a marginal, outer suburban seat. Although it has a fairly high level of median family income, it also has very high levels of families with dependent children and of dwellings being purchased, making it a typical high-income mortgage belt seat. Its low level of people in professional occupations shows that it is an electorate of skilled workers and middle-class wage-earners raising families and paying mortgages. Labor's remaining strength is in the suburbs around Campbelltown. Camden, Narellan and Picton are strongly Liberal. Pat Farmer won Macarthur for the Liberals in 2001, and was a parliamentary secretary in the Howard government from 2004. He was fairly safe until 2007, when he suffered a 10.4% swing and only retained the seat by 1,100 votes. In 2007 Labor polled 77% of the two-party vote at Aids North and 71% at Airds, and polled more than 60% at two booths in Ambarvale, Bradbury South, Campbelltown East, Leumeah, Rosemeadow and St Helens Park. The Liberals polled 72% at Orangeville and Theresa Park. | | 
Two-party vote by booth, 2007
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