Division of Whitlam
The Division of Whitlam is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. Whitlam is a predominantly middle and working-class electorate that covers 1,331 square kilometres in the southern Illawarra and Southern Highlands.[1] The current MP is Stephen Jones, a member of the Australian Labor Party. Jones was born in Wollongong and was a trade union official before first being elected to Parliament in 2010.[1] GeographyFederal electoral division boundaries in Australia are 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.[2] HistoryThe division, previously named Throsby, was renamed in honour of Gough Whitlam, the Prime Minister of Australia from 1972–75, in a February 2016 electoral distribution.[3] It came into effect from 2 July 2016, the date of the 2016 Australian federal election. ABC election analyst Antony Green estimated that boundary changes to Throsby would reduce the Australian Labor Party's notional two-party-preferred margin from 7.8 to 6.9 percentage points.[4] Despite this, the last member for Throsby, Stephen Jones, easily retained the seat with a healthy swing of over six points. Whitlam has a strong working-class character due to the presence of industries such as steelmaking, coal mining and stevedoring in the Illawarra. Members
Election results
Labor
Liberal
Greens
United Australia Party
One Nation
References
External linksInformation related to Division of Whitlam |