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| Adam Carr's Election Archive
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Australian federal election, 2019
Division of Bennelong, New South Wales
Northern Sydney: Eastwood, Epping, Ermington, Gladesville, Ryde
State seats: All of
Ryde, parts of
Epping,
Lane Cove and
Parramatta
Local government areas: All of Ryde, parts of Hornsby and Parramatta
Enrolment at close of rolls: 108,872
1999 republic referendum: Yes 54.6
2018 same-sex marriage survey: No 50.2
Sitting member: John Alexander OAM (Liberal):
Elected 2010, 2013, 2016. Resigned 2017. Elected 2017 by-election
2007 Labor majority over Liberal: 1.4%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 3.1%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 7.8%
2016 Liberal majority over Labor: 9.7%
2017 by-election Liberal majority over Labor: 4.9%
2019 notional Liberal majority over Labor: 9.7%
Status: Fairly safe Liberal
2016 results
2017 by-election results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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1. Dr Brian Owler AM
Australian Labor Party |
2. Andrew Marks
United Australia Party |
3. John Alexander OAM
Liberal Party |
4. Qiu Yue (Viki) Zhang
Australian Greens |
5. Julie Worsley
Christian Democratic Party |
Candidate websites:
John Alexander OAM
Dr Brian Owler AM
Viki Zhang
Division of Bennelong
Bennelong was created in 1949, occupying a block of affluent middle-class suburbia on Sydney's North Shore. It has the
unusual combination of high median family incomes and a high proportion of people born in non English
speaking countries: it now has the highest proportion of such people of any Coalition-held seat. Many of these migrants
are people from Asian countries, particularly China, who are in professional occupations. The 2016 census showed 21% of
Bennelong residents claiming Chinese ancestry, the highest of any seat. (Not all of these will be citizens.)
For its first 50 years Bennelong was a usually reliable seat for the Liberal Party, having only two members in that time:
Sir John Cramer from 1949 to 1974 and John Howard from 1974 to 2007. Howard was Treasurer in the Fraser Government, Leader
of the Liberal Party from 1985 to 1989 and again from 1995 to 2007, and Prime Minister from 1996 to 2007.
From the 1970s, however, successive redistributions shifted Bennelong westwards, losing prime Liberal territory in
Lane Cove and Hunters Hill and gaining marginal or Labor-voting areas further west. Demographic change also made suburbs
like Ryde and Gladesville less reliably Liberal.
The defeat of Howard's government in 2007, plus the changes in Bennelong, caused Howard's shock defeat in his own seat at
the 2007 election: he was the first Prime Mimister since 1929 to lose his seat. Labor's Maxine McKew held the seat for
only one term, before it returned the Liberals in 2010.
John Alexander, Liberal MP for Bennelong since 2010, was a professional tennis player and sports commentator before
entering politics. Although he was something of a Liberal hero for regaining Bennelong, he has not been promoted,
and since he is now 67 it sems unlikely he will be. In 2017 Alexander resigned when it became clear that he had not
successfully renounced his possible claim to British citizenship. He was comfortably re-elected at the December 2017
by-election, defeating former NSW (now Senator) Kristina Keneally.
The Labor candidate is Professor Brian Owler, a
neurosurgeon and former president of the Australian Medical Association. The Greens candidate, Edwina Clifton, a barrister and Ryde City
councillor, withdrew in February after resigning from the Greens. Her replacement is Viki Zhang, a medical researcher.
Demographics:
Median weekly household income: $1,817 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 14.3% (Australia 15.8%)
Australian born: 48.3% (Australia 66.7%)
Ancestry: Chinese 21.0%
Non-English-speaking households: 51.8% (Australia 22.2%)
Catholics 23.3% (Australia 22.6%)
No religion 30.9% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 39.8% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 48.1% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 15.3% (Australia 22.9%)
Paying a mortgage: 30.0% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 36.1% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 39.3% (Australia 32.8%)
Members:
Hon Sir John Cramer (Lib) 1949-74
Hon John Howard (Lib) 1974-2007
Hon Maxine McKew (ALP) 2007-10
John Alexander (Lib) 2010-17, 2017b-
Boundaries following 2016 redistribution:
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