Under initial proposals for the 2009 redistribution, the Australian Electoral Commission proposed that the division be abolished. However, in the final proposal, the name "Reid" was retained for a division combining much of the now-abolished Division of Lowe with part of the old Division of Reid.[2] Incidentally, the redistribution brought George Reid's old home, at Mount Royal, Strathfield, within the boundaries of the electorate that bears his name.[3][4]
While the old Reid was historically a safe Labor seat, the 2009 redistribution made Reid far less safe for Labor, with its majority being slashed by six percent. That was partly because of the addition of territory from Lowe, which had been a marginal Labor seat for most of the time since the 1980s. John Murphy, the last member for Lowe, retained Reid for Labor at the 2010 election with just a two percent margin, after suffering an eight percent swing. At the 2013 election, the seat was won for the first time by the Liberal Party of Australia.[5] The current Member for Reid, since the 2022 federal election, is Sally Sitou, a member of the Australian Labor Party. The loss of the seat to the Labor Party has been attributed to the notably large swings against the Liberal Party among Chinese Australian voters which has cost the Liberal Party many key seats,[6] with 18% of Reid's population possessing Chinese ancestry.[7]
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[8]
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