Division of Cunningham

This article is about the Australian federal electorate. For the former Queensland state electorate, see Electoral district of Cunningham.

Cunningham Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Cunningham in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1949
MP	Sharon Bird
Party	Labor
Namesake	Allan Cunningham
Electors	111,395 (2016)
Area	519 km² (200.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Cunningham is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham, a 19th-century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland.

The division is located on the coast of New South Wales between southern Sydney and Wollongong. It takes in the northern portion of Wollongong, including Corrimal, Figtree and Unanderra. It also includes several of Sydney's outer southern suburbs, including Heathcote and Bundeena. The division covers areas east of the Illawarra escarpment and is bounded by the Tasman Sea to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Royal National Park and to the south by the Wollongong suburbs of Figtree, Cordeaux Heights and Coniston. Although the region is primarily rural, the vast majority of the population is located in the northern outskirts of Wollongong and along the eastern seaboard. The main products and means of livelihood in the area are tourism, tertiary education, steel production, coal mining, brick manufacturing, textiles and dairy farming.

The sitting member, since the 2004 federal election, is Sharon Bird, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

History

The division has always been represented by the Australian Labor Party, except following the 2002 by-election when the Greens won the seat; being the first time that the Greens held a seat in the House of Representatives. Labor recovered the seat at the 2004 federal election. The Illawarra is one of the few non-metropolitan regions where Labor has consistently done well.

Its most prominent members have been Rex Connor, a senior minister in the Whitlam government, and Stephen Martin, who was Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives from 1993–1996, during the last term of the Keating government.

Cunningham is Labor's safest non-metropolitan seat, with a nine percent swing needed for the Liberals to win it.

Members

	Party	Years
Billy Davies	Labor	1949–1956
Victor Kearney	Labor	1956–1963
Rex Connor	Labor	1963–1977
Stewart West	Labor	1977–1993
Stephen Martin	Labor	1993–2002
Michael Organ	Greens	2002–2004
Sharon Bird	Labor	2004–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Cunningham

Australian federal election, 2016: Cunningham^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labor	Sharon Bird	46,414	47.89	+0.89
	Liberal	Michelle Blicavs	28,263	29.16	−2.81
	Greens	Cath Blakey	14,200	14.65	+3.30
	Christian Democrats	Michelle Ryan	3,939	4.06	+1.74
	Science	Nathan Waters	2,526	2.61	+2.61
	Non-Custodial Parents	John Flanagan	1,582	1.63	+0.67
Total formal votes			96,924	95.16	+2.20
Informal votes			4,933	4.84	−2.20
Turnout			101,857	91.44	−1.75
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Sharon Bird	61,377	63.32	+2.03
	Liberal	Michelle Blicavs	35,547	36.68	−2.03
	Labor hold		Swing	+2.03

References

↑ Cunningham, NSW, Virtual Tally Room 2016, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Division of Cunningham - Australian Electoral Commission
Wilson, Peter (2002). The Australian Political Almanack.

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: 34°15′32″S 150°54′58″E / 34.259°S 150.916°E / -34.259; 150.916

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