Division of Macarthur

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The Division of Macarthur is an Australian Federal electoral division covering outer south-west Sydney. Its present boundaries cover the southern suburbs of Campbelltown, all of the local government area of Camden and small parts of Wollondilly. It covers 537 km² and is named after the John Macarthur and his wife Elizabeth Macarthur, who were pioneers of Australia's wool industry. The main products and work in the electorate are in the fruit and vegetable production, lucerne and fodder crops, wine, dairy cattle and horse-breeding.

While the electorate is predominately outer-suburban, its contains some semi-rural areas such as Bringelly and Leppington. The population of the electorate is likely to expand significantly over coming years due to the release of new land surrounding Sydney for residential development.

Macarthur has changed hands regularly over the years as redistributions have favoured different parties. This electorate has also tended to change hands with governments due to larger than average swings. The seat has been held by a member of the governing party every year since it was established in 1949. Demographic changes and the relative popularity of sitting MP, Pat Farmer have allowed the Liberal Party to consolidate their position here in recent years. The redistributions have shrunk the geographical size of the seat, as the Campbelltown region becomes more heavily populated. In the redistribution prior to the 2001 Federal election, Southern highlands towns such as Bowral, Moss Vale were removed, shrinking the area to one eighth of its original size. This made the seat notionally ALP by 1.3%, from the previous 5.6% of the Liberals, which lead to Liberal minister John Fahey abandoning the seat. Farmer achieved an 8.3% swing to regain the seat anyway, and increased the margin from 7 to 9.5% at the 2004 Federal election.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Members
4 References

[edit] Geography

The Division covers areas east of the Nepean River between Liverpool and Penrith and south to Camden. It encompasses the suburbs of Airds, Badgery's Creek, Bickley Vale, Bradbury, Bringelly, Camden, Camden South, Campbelltown, Catherine Field, Claymore, Cobbity, Eagle Vale, Ellis Lane, Gilead, Grasmere, Greendale, Harrington Park, Kearns, Kentlyn, Leppington, Mount Annan, Narellan, Oran Park, Rosemeadow, Rossmore, Wedderburn.

[edit] Demographics

It is a mortgage belt area, with a high percentage of young families, leading to the proportion of residents under 18 being 35%, compared to the national average of 27.2%, with a low proportion of senior citizens (5.9% compared to 12.1%). This is further highlighted in the fact that 23.3% of the population is attending school, compared to the national average of 18.1%. The income is above average, with 19.7% of the families in the electorate earning less than AU $500 per week, compared to 24.3% for the national average. The birth demographics of the electorate are similar to the rest of Australia, with the proportion of people born overseas and in non-English speaking countries within one percentage point of the national average.

[edit] Members

Member	Party affiliation	Period
Jeff Bate	Lib	1949-72
John Kerin	ALP	1972-75
Michael Baume	Lib	1975-83
Colin Hollis	ALP	1983-84
Stephen Martin	ALP	1984-93
Chris de Haviland	ALP	1993-96
John Fahey	Lib	1996-2001
Pat Farmer	Lib	2001-present