Division of Barton

Barton Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Barton in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1922
MP	Linda Burney
Party	Labor
Namesake	Sir Edmund Barton
Electors	106,566 (2016)
Area	40 km² (15.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner metropolitan

The Division of Barton is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia.

The division has always been based in the inner southern suburbs of Sydney, and currently includes the suburbs of Arncliffe, Banksia, Bardwell Park, Bardwell Valley, Bexley, Bexley North, Brighton-Le-Sands, Clemton Park, Earlwood, Kyeemagh, Rockdale, Tempe, Turrella, Undercliffe, and Wolli Creek; as well as parts of Belmore, Beverly Hills, Campsie, Canterbury, Carlton, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Hurstville, Kingsgrove, Kogarah, Marrickville, and Penshurst.

The current Member for Barton, since the 2016 federal election, is Linda Burney, the former Deputy Leader of the New South Wales Opposition.

History

For most of its history, Barton has been a marginal seat. It was held by the Australian Labor Party for most of the time after 1940, though it has been taken by the Liberals (or their predecessors) at high-tide elections.

Barton's most prominent member has been Dr H. V. Evatt, who was Leader of the Australian Labor Party between 1951 and 1960. Evatt nearly lost the seat in 1951 and 1955, and in 1958 he transferred to the safe seat of Hunter. A former minister in the Hawke and Keating ministries, Gary Punch, held the seat for Labor between 1983 and 1986. Robert McClelland, a former Attorney-General, held the seat for Labor between 1996 and 2013.

The Division of Barton is linked to one of the more unusual episodes in Australian politics. The first member for Barton, Labor's Frederick McDonald, disappeared after his 1925 defeat by Nationalist Thomas Ley, and it is now believed that Ley had him murdered.^[1] Ley was later found to be insane and died in Broadmoor Asylum in Britain.

Former member Nickolas Varvaris is a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives, represented Barton after the 2013 federal election, achieving a two-party swing of 7.2 percent in Barton to finish with a two-party vote of just 50.3 percent, which made Barton the government's most marginal seat in the country.^[2]

A redistribution prior to the 2016 federal election saw Barton change from a marginal Liberal seat in to a notional marginal Labor seat with a notional Labor two-party vote of 54.4 percent.^[3] It was not until under on-going pressure in May 2016 that Varvaris eventually confirmed his intention to re-contest the seat. Linda Burney contested the seat for Labor and won.^[4]^[5]

Members

	Party	Term
Frederick McDonald	Labor	1922–1925
Thomas Ley	Nationalist	1925–1928
James Tully	Labor	1928–1931
Albert Lane	United Australia	1931–1940
H. V. Evatt	Labor	1940–1958
Len Reynolds	Labor	1958–1966
Bill Arthur	Liberal	1966–1969
Len Reynolds	Labor	1969–1975
Jim Bradfield	Liberal	1975–1983
Gary Punch	Labor	1983–1996
Robert McClelland	Labor	1996–2013
Nickolas Varvaris	Liberal	2013–2016
Linda Burney	Labor	2016–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Barton

Australian federal election, 2016: Barton^[6]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labor	Linda Burney	41,878	47.75	+4.14
	Liberal	Nickolas Varvaris	31,038	35.39	−2.88
	Greens	Brent Heber	7,741	8.83	+0.95
	Christian Democrats	Sonny Susilo	3,714	4.23	+2.16
	Independent	Rasmus Torkel	2,236	2.55	+2.55
	Online Direct Democracy	Harry Tsoukalas	1,095	1.25	+1.25
Total formal votes			87,702	91.65	+3.56
Informal votes			7,991	8.35	−3.56
Turnout			95,693	89.80	−2.81
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Linda Burney	51,131	58.30	+3.91
	Liberal	Nickolas Varvaris	36,571	41.70	−3.91
	Labor hold		Swing	+3.91

References

↑ O'Neill, Margot; Evans, Brett (26 April 2004). "Lateline History Challenge: Minister for Murder" (transcript). Lateline. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
↑ 2013 federal election results: AEC
↑ 2016 election pendulum: Antony Green ABC
↑ Barton - 2016 federal election: Antony Green ABC
↑ Liberal MP Nick Varvaris can't decide whether to recontest: SMH 29 April 2016
↑ Barton, NSW, Virtual Tally Room 2016, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Division of Barton - Australian Electoral Commission

Electoral divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in New South Wales

Banks Barton Bennelong Berowra Blaxland Bradfield Calare Chifley Cook Cowper Cunningham Dobell Eden-Monaro Farrer Fowler Gilmore Grayndler Greenway Hughes Hume Hunter Kingsford Smith Lindsay Lyne Macarthur Mackellar Macquarie McMahon Mitchell New England Newcastle North Sydney Page Parkes Parramatta Paterson Reid Richmond Riverina Robertson Shortland Sydney Warringah Watson Wentworth Werriwa Whitlam Abolished: Barrier Bland Canobolas Charlton Cook (1906–55) Dalley Darling Dundas East Sydney Evans Gwydir Illawarra Lang Lawson Lowe Martin Nepean Parkes (1901–69) Phillip Prospect Riverina-Darling St George South Sydney Throsby Watson (1934–69) West Sydney

Divisions in: New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Tasmania Australian Capital and Northern Territories

Coordinates: 33°57′22″S 151°07′44″E / 33.956°S 151.129°E / -33.956; 151.129

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