|
|
|
|
| Adam Carr's Election Archive
|
Australian federal election, 2019
Division of Paterson, New South Wales
North central New South Wales: Kurri Kurri, Maitland, Neith, Nelson Bay, Raymond Terrace
State seats: Parts of
Cessnock,
Maitland,
Newcastle,
Port Stephens and
Wallsend
Local government areas: Parts of Cessnock, Maitland and Port Stephens
Enrolment at close of rolls: 122,941
1999 republic referendum: No 60.3
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 65.5
Sitting member: Meryl Swanson (Labor):
Elected 2016
2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 1.5%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 5.3%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 9.8%
2016 Labor majority over Liberal: 10.7%
Status: Fairly safe Labor
2016 results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
1. Sachin Joshi
Liberal Party |
2. Neil Turner
Pauline Hanson's One Nation |
3. Meryl Swanson
Australian Labor Party |
4. Graham Burston
United Australia Party |
5. Jan Davis
Australian Greens |
 |
6. Christopher Vale
Christian Democratic Party |
Candidate websites:
Graham Burston
Jan Davis
Sachin Joshi
Meryl Swanson
Division of Paterson
Paterson was created in 1949, based on Maitland and the more rural parts of the Hunter region. It was
usually a safe Liberal or Country Party seat, although Labor came close in 1972 and 1974. The seat was
abolished in 1984, but reincarnated on much the same boundaries in 1993. Like most regional seats, Paterson
has a low level of median family income, a low proportion of people in professional and managerial occupations and a low
proportion of non English speaking households. Its ageing population is shown by its high
level of people over 65 and its low level of families with dependent children.
Bob Baldwin won Paterson for the Liberals in 1996, lost it to Bob Horne in 1998 and regained it in 2001. He
was a Parliamentary Secretary in both the Howard and Abbott Governments, and retired in 2016.
The 2016 redistribution radically changed this seat, cutting out all the rural areas and adding Labor-voting
territory from Hunter and Newcastle, particularly the Labor bastion of Kurri Kurri, plus all of Maitland,
which was previously divided between Paterson and Hunter. What Liberal strength remains is in the Port
Stephens area, which has many affluent residents and retirees. The result was to turn a Liberal majority
of 9.8% into a Labor majority of 0.4%. This plus the loss of Baldwin's personal vote made Paterson a certain
Labor gain in 2016.
Meryl Swanson, Labor MP for Paterson since 2016, had the additional advantage of already being well-known
in the Hunter as a local radio host for 12 years. She was also executive director of Hunter Tourism and a staffer
for Joel Fitzgibbon MP.
The Liberal candidate is Sachin Joshi, a small business owner.
The Greens candidate is Jan Davis, a health worker. Clive Palmer's candidate is Graham Burston, a Newcastle businessman and twin brother of Senator Brian
Burston. In 2016 Burston polled 13% of the vote in Paterson as a One Nation candidate.
Demographics:
Median weekly household income: $1,236 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 18.5% (Australia 15.8%)
Indigenous: 5.5% (Australia 2.8%)
Australian born: 84.1% (Australia 66.7%)
Non-English-speaking households: 5.2% (Australia 22.2%)
Catholics 23.6% (Australia 22.6%)
No religion 25.4% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 10.5% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 23.7% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 26.4% (Australia 22.9%)
Paying a mortgage: 33.9% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 29.1% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 30.6% (Australia 32.8%)
Members:
Hon Sir Allen Fairhall (Lib) 1949-69
Frank O'Keefe (CP, NCP) 1969-84
Bob Horne (ALP) 1993-96
Bob Baldwin (Lib) 1996-98
Bob Horne (ALP) 1998-2001
Hon Bob Baldwin (Lib) 2001-16
Meryl Swanson (ALP) 2016-
Boundaries following 2016 redistribution:
Back to main page
|
|