Division of Werriwa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids WerriwaAustralian House of Representatives Division |
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Division of Werriwa (green) in New South Wales
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| Created | 1901 |
| MP | Laurie Ferguson |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | Lake George (Aboriginal name) |
| Area | 159 km2 (61.4 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Outer Metropolitan |
The Division of Werriwa is a Federal Electoral Division for the Australian House of Representatives in the state of New South Wales.
The name Werriwa is the local Aboriginal name for Lake George. The lake was in the division when the boundaries were drawn in 1900. The division was one of the original 75 divisions for Australia's first federal election in 1901. It covered a large rural area from the south west of Sydney to the northern part of what is now the ACT.
Over the years, the population around Sydney increased. The boundaries were redrawn and Werriwa became smaller in area. By 1913 Lake George was no longer included in the Dvision. Werriwa become a south-western Sydney suburban electorate over 150 km away from Lake George. It has kept the name of Werriwa, because it is an original Federation electorate. The Australian Electoral Commission tries to keep the names of original Federation electorates.
Werriwa now covers the suburbs of Austral, Bardia, Bow Bowing, Casula, Claymore, Denham Court, Edmondson Park, Eschol Park, Glenfield, Horningsea Park, Hoxton Park, Ingleburn, Leppington, Lurnea, Macquarie Fields, Minto, Minto Heights, Prestons, Raby, St Andrews and Varroville and parts of Liverpool, Leumeah and West Hoxton.
Members
| Member | Party | Term | |
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| Alfred Conroy | Free Trade | 1901–1906 | |
| David Hall | Labor | 1906–1912 | |
| Benjamin Bennett | Labor | 1912–1913 | |
| Alfred Conroy | Commonwealth Liberal | 1913–1914 | |
| John Lynch | Labor | 1914–1916 | |
| National Labor | 1916–1917 | ||
| Nationalist | 1917–1918 | ||
| Hubert Lazzarini | Labor | 1919-1931 | |
| Lang Labor | 1931–1931 | ||
| Walter McNicoll | Country | 1931–1934 | |
| Hubert Lazzarini | Lang Labor | 1934–1936 | |
| Labor | 1936–1952 | ||
| Gough Whitlam | Labor | 1952–1978 | |
| John Kerin | Labor | 1978–1994 | |
| Mark Latham | Labor | 1994–2005 | |
| Chris Hayes | Labor | 2005–2010 | |
| Laurie Ferguson | Labor | 2010–present | |
It is a very safe seat for the Australian Labor Party (ALP), which has held it without a break since 1934.
Werriwa was the electorate (1952-78) of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. From 1994 to 2005 the Werriwa was held by one of Whitlam's former aides, Mark Latham. Latham was the leader of the ALP and Leader of the Opposition from 2003-2005.
In a by-election in March 2005, Labor's Chris Hayes was elected with over 55% of the vote. There were 16 other candidates but none got more than 8% of the vote.
Election results
| Preceded by Lowe |
Division represented by the Prime Minister 1972-1975 Gough Whitlam |
Succeeded by Wannon |
Images for kids
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Lake George, the Aboriginal name of which is the division's namesake
