The Division of Kingsford Smith is an

Australian electoral division In Australia, electoral districts for the Australian House of Representatives are called divisions or more commonly referred to as electorates or seats. There are currently 151 single-member electorates for the Australian House of Representati ...

in the state of New South Wales.

History

The division is named after

Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

, a pioneer aviator, and the first pilot to fly across the Pacific Ocean. The Kingsford Smith International Airport (Sydney International), and the suburb of Kingsford, both of which are located within the division, are also named after him. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 federal election. Kingsford Smith has been in Labor hands for its entire existence. A redistribution ahead of the 1969 election made it one of the safest Labor seats in both Sydney and the nation, and it remained a comfortably safe Labor seat for most of the next four decades. However, demographic changes since 2010 have made the seat much less secure for Labor. It has previously been held by Lionel Bowen, a minister in the

Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the he ...

government, Deputy Leader of the Labor Party from 1977 to 1990 and Deputy Prime Minister for most of the Hawke government, and by Laurie Brereton, a minister in the Keating government. It was then held by Peter Garrett, a former lead singer of the

Australian rock Rock music in Australia, also known as Oz rock, Australian rock and Aussie rock, is rock music from Australia. The nation has a rich history of rock music and an appreciation of the roots of various rock genres, usually originating in the United ...

band

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...

, former President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and a minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments. Garrett announced his retirement on 26 June 2013. The Division was originally known as the Division of Kingsford-Smith (with a hyphen), based upon a misspelling of Sir Charles's surname. However, this was corrected at the redistribution in 2001. The current Member for Kingsford Smith, since the 2013 federal election, is Matt Thistlethwaite, a member of the Australian Labor Party who resigned from the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

prior to the election.

Boundaries

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. The division is located in the south-eastern suburbs of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, on the north shore of Botany Bay, and the coast of the Tasman Sea. The division includes the suburbs of Banksmeadow, Botany, Chifley, Coogee,

Daceyville Daceyville (formerly Dacey Garden Suburb) is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Daceyville is 7 km south of the Sydney central business district and is now part of Bayside Council (formerl ...

, East Botany, Eastgardens,

Eastlakes Eastlakes is an inner southern and south-eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Eastlakes is located 8 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Bayside Council, ...

, Hillsdale,

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

, Kingsford, La Perouse,

Little Bay Little Bay is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Little Bay is located 14 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Randwick ...

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

, Maroubra, Maroubra Junction, Mascot,

Matraville Matraville is located in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately by road south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick. History Ma ...

Pagewood Pagewood is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 8 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district. It is part of the Bayside Council. Pagewood has a mixture of residential and industrial areas. H ...

, Phillip Bay, Port Botany, and

South Coogee South Coogee is a coastal suburb in South-Eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. South Coogee is located 9 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwi ...

; as well as parts of Clovelly, Randwick, and Rosebery. Bare Island,

Prince Henry Hospital The Prince Henry Hospital site, formerly known as the Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney, is a heritage-listed former teaching hospital and infectious diseases hospital and now University of New South Wales, UNSW teaching hospital and rehabilitatio ...

, and the University of New South Wales are also located in the electorate.

Members

Election results

References

External links

Division of Kingsford Smith - Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kingsford Smith, Division of Electoral divisions of Australia Constituencies established in 1949 1949 establishments in Australia