| Lindsay Australian House of Representatives Division |
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|---|---|
Division of Lindsay (green) in New South Wales |
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| Created: | 1984 |
| MP: | David Bradbury |
| Party: | Labor |
| Namesake: | Norman Lindsay |
| Area: | 339 km² (131 sq mi) |
| Demographic: | Outer Metropolitan |
The Division of Lindsay is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the outer western suburbs of Sydney, and is centred around Penrith. It also includes the suburbs of Castlereagh, Mulgoa and Werrington.
The Division is named after Sir Norman Lindsay, the prominent Australian artist, writer and sculptor. The Division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 October 1984 and was first contested at the 1984 Federal election.
The division of Lindsay is well known for its bellwether status. At every Federal election since its creation in 1984, its winning member of parliament has been from the party winning government. This has been widely attributed to Lindsay's buildup as an economically sensitive seat. The mortgage belt status of the electorate means fiscal matters such as interest rates, job security, petrol prices and quality of transportation are always critical issues at federal elections. The geographic buildup of the seat consists of Liberal voting areas in the west, Labor voting areas in the east and swing areas in the centre.
Prior to the 1996 election, it was considered a safe Labor seat, until a swing of more than 10% removed the then MP Ross Free from office. However a by-election was called when it was revealed that there were eligibility problems, due to citizenship, with Jackie Kelly's election. Jackie Kelly won the subsequent by-election with an additional 6.69% swing towards her.
Jackie Kelly announced her retirement in 2007 which, together with the 2006 redistribution, has made Lindsay vulnerable to the Labor candidate, Penrith Mayor David Bradbury. Bradbury contested the seat for the Labor Party and had won the seat with a swing of 9.7% after distribution of preferences defeating the unsuccessful Liberal candidate Karen Chijoff.
Three days before the 2007 Federal Election Liberal Party supporters, including Jackie Kelly's husband, were caught in Lindsay distributing fake pamphlets in residents' letterboxes which linked the Labor Party to Islamic terrorism. For more details see Lindsay pamphlet scandal.
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ross Free | Labor | 1984–1996 | |
| Jackie Kelly | Liberal | 1996–2007 | |
| David Bradbury | Labor | 2007–present | |
| Australian federal election, 2010: Lindsay | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | David Bradbury | 37,076 | 44.55 | -6.24 | |
| Liberal | Fiona Scott | 36,114 | 43.39 | +4.71 | |
| Greens | Suzie Wright | 3,944 | 4.74 | +1.28 | |
| Christian Democrats | Andrew Green | 2,502 | 3.01 | -0.01 | |
| Independent | Geoff Brown | 1,583 | 1.90 | +1.90 | |
| Family First | John Phillips | 1,032 | 1.24 | +0.09 | |
| Australia First | Mick Saunders | 976 | 1.17 | +1.17 | |
| Total formal votes | 83,227 | 91.83 | -2.65 | ||
| Informal votes | 7,402 | 8.17 | +2.65 | ||
| Turnout | 90,629 | 94.43 | -1.45 | ||
| Two-candidate preferred result | |||||
| Labor | David Bradbury | 42,546 | 51.12 | -5.16 | |
| Liberal | Fiona Scott | 40,681 | 48.88 | +5.16 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | -5.16 | |||
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