Psephos - Adam Carr's Election Archive

Adam Carr's Election Archive

Australian federal election, 2025
Division of Parramatta, New South Wales

Named for: Town (now a Sydney suburb) of Parramatta (Indigenous word meaning "head of the river")


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Western Sydney: Carlingford, Ermington, Girraween, Parramatta, Wentworthville

Enrolment at 2019 election: 103,186
Enrolment at 2022 election: 105,465 (+02.3)
1999 republic referendum: No 51.7
2018 same-sex marriage survey: No 61.6
2023 Voice referendum: No 54.6


Sitting member: Dr Andrew Charlton (Labor): Elected 2022


2007 Labor majority over Liberal: 6.9%
2010 Labor majority over Liberal: 4.4%
2013 Labor majority over Liberal: 0.6%
2016 Labor majority over Liberal: 7.6%
2019 Labor majority over Liberal: 3.5%
2022 Labor majority over Liberal: 4.6%
2025 notional Labor majority over Liberal: 3.7%

Status: Marginal Labor
Labor two-party vote 1983-2022


  • 2022 results
  • Statistics and history

  • Announced candidates:

    Dr Andrew Charlton
    Australian Labor Party
    Katie Mullens
    Liberal Party

    Division of Parramatta

    Parramatta has existed since Federation, although its boundaries have been radically changed several times. From 1901 to 1977 it was essentially a North Shore seat, and was a reliable non-Labor seat, being lost only in the Labor landslide year of 1929. Among its early members was Liberal Prime Minister Joe Cook. The 1977 redistribution extended the seat to the west, making it a fairly safe Labor seat. In 1993 it was shifted back to include Carlingford and Ermington, and became the marginal seat it has been since.

    Parramatta has an above-average level of median family income and of people in professional and managerial occupations. It also has a high proportion of non English speaking households. In particular, it is becoming a centre of Indian and Chinese settlment. This combination suggests that Parramatta is becoming an inner-city multicultural seat, which explains Labor's increasing strength. Although Parramatta has a high proportion of families with dependent children, it has a low proportion of dwellings being purchased: this is an electorate of flat-dwellers (30%) and home-owners.

    Members for Parramatta have included Liberal Cabinet ministers Sir Garfield Barwick and Sir Nigel Bowen and Labor minister John Brown. Ross Cameron won Parramatta for the Liberals in 1996. Cameron, a very conservative member, was brought undone in 2004 when he had to admit to an extra-marital affair - it was his hypocrisy rather than his infidelity which angered voters - and he was narrowly defeated by Labor's Julie Owens, who held the seat until her retirement in 2022.

    Dr Andrew Charlton, Labor MP for Parramatta since 2022, is an economist and author who was a senior adviser to Treasurer Wayne Swan. He has a DPhil in economics from Oxford. The Liberal candidate is Katie Mullens, a lawyer.

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