Division of Parramatta

The Division of Parramatta is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. It was created in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is based in the western suburbs of Sydney. The current member, since the 2022 federal election, is Andrew Charlton, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

Parramatta is a diverse electorate with large immigrant communities from India and China, and has a higher than average university education rate according to the 2016 census.^[1] At the time of the 2022 Australian federal election, 12% of Parramatta's population possessed Chinese ancestry.^[2]

Parramatta is based in the western suburbs of Sydney. Besides Parramatta, it includes Camellia, Carlingford, Constitution Hill, Dundas, Dundas Valley, Ermington, Harris Park, Mays Hill, North Parramatta, Oatlands, Pendle Hill, Rosehill, Rydalmere, Telopea, Wentworthville and Westmead; and parts of Clyde, Eastwood, Epping, Granville, Melrose Park, North Rocks, Northmead, Old Toongabbie, Seven Hills, South Wentworthville and Toongabbie.

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.^[3]

When the division was created in 1900, it covered all of north-west Sydney and the Blue Mountains. In 1906, it was shifted east to cover the Central Coast but lost all areas in the Blue Mountains. Within Sydney, it lost almost all areas west of Parramatta, but gained areas to the east up to Chatswood (but not inclusive). In 1913, it was significantly shrunk in area, losing all of Central Coast and most areas west of Hornsby. However, it expanded towards the south-east up to the Sydney Harbour at Waverton and eastwards up to the Middle Harbour at Northbridge, gaining North Shore areas such as Chatswood.^[4]

In 1922, the division was shifted back towards the west, losing all areas east of Ryde, and was significantly expanded to the west, regaining areas north-west, west and south-west of Parramatta. In 1933, it was significantly shrunk again, losing most of the areas in the west to the Division of Robertson. It also gained areas to the east in the Upper North Shore. It lost those Upper North Shore areas in 1949.^[5][4]

From 1949 until 1976, the division covered Parramatta and areas to the north-east in the Northern Suburbs such as Epping, Eastwood and Carlingford.^[6] In 1977, the boundaries were significantly altered to cover Parramatta and areas to the west instead, with the previous areas becoming the Division of Dundas. It regained some areas in the Northern Suburbs (up to Carlingford) in 1984 and 1992, the latter coinciding with the abolition of Dundas. Since then, the division covered a similar area, with minor boundary changes during redistributions.^[4]

Parramatta was created in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the locality of Parramatta. The name Parramatta has been sourced to an Aboriginal word for the area. The Darug people had lived in the area for many generations, and regarded the area as a food bowl, rich in food from the river and forests. They called the area Baramada or Burramatta ("Parramatta") which means "the place where the eels lie down".^[7]

As originally created, it covered the outer northwestern suburbs of Sydney, though that city's dramatic growth made it an entirely urban seat after World War II. For most of the first seven decades after Federation, it included a large amount of conservative-leaning territory that usually swamped Parramatta itself, which has historically been a working-class area. As a result, the seat was held by the Liberals and their predecessors for all but one term from Federation until 1977.

A redistribution ahead of the 1977 election split Parramatta into two. The majority of the wealthier eastern portion became the comfortably safe Liberal seat of Dundas. The smaller western portion, including the bulk of the Parramatta LGA, became the core of a marginal Labor seat that retained the Parramatta name, as per Australian Electoral Commission guidelines that require the names of original Federation electorates to be preserved where possible.^[8][9] However, the reconfigured Parramatta was anchored in traditionally pro-Labor territory in western Sydney. Parramatta's Liberal incumbent, Phillip Ruddock, opted to follow most of his base into Dundas, allowing his 1975 challenger, John Brown to become only the second Labor member ever to win Parramatta.

Since then, it has been located between Labor's traditional heartland of western Sydney and the traditional Liberal stronghold of the North Shore. As a result, whenever the seat is redistributed, a shift of a few kilometres to the west or east can radically alter its political landscape.^[10]

For example, the 2006 redistribution shifted Parramatta from marginally Labor to notionally marginally Liberal (as defined by the Australian Electoral Commission). Nevertheless, as was widely expected^[11] at the 2007 federal election, the incumbent Labor member, Julie Owens, held the seat ahead of Liberal candidate Colin Robinson, a member of the Electrical Trades Union,^[11] with an increased majority.

Owens was subsequently re-elected at the 2010, 2013, 2016 elections, and 2019. Owens' win in the seat in 2004 marked the third time that the Liberals and their predecessors had won government without winning Parramatta, preceded by Brown's wins in 1975 and 1980.

Prominent members for Parramatta over the years have included (Sir) Joseph Cook, a former Prime Minister; (Sir) Garfield Barwick and Nigel Bowen, both of whom served as Attorney-General before moving to senior judicial position, Barwick as Chief Justice of the High Court. Ruddock, a former Attorney-General and Immigration Minister also represented the seat (though he was the member for Berowra by then); as did Brown, a former Sports Minister.^[10]

• Division of Parramatta – Australian Electoral Commission

33°48′32″S 151°00′40″E / 33.809°S 151.011°E / -33.809; 151.011