The Division of Warringah is an Australian electoral division in the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums. Responsibilities The AEC's main responsibility is to ...

. 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.

History

The division is named after the

Warringah Warringah is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to: *Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922 *Electoral ...

area of Sydney, which itself is named by an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

word which translates into English as "rain", "waves" or "sea". The Division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 13 September 1922, and was first contested at the 1922 federal election. The word "Warrin ga" was recorded as the local name for Middle Harbour in 1832. Centred on

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

and the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the en ...

region of Sydney, it covers most of the land between

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Austr ...

and the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea ( Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer ...

. It extends from

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...

in the south to the suburb of

Dee Why Dee Why is a coastal suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district. It is the administrative centre of the local government area of Northern Be ...

in the north. It includes the suburbs of

Allambie Allambie is a location in the Northern Beaches Council local government area, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It has been designated an "Urban Place" by the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales The Geographical Names Board of New ...

, Allambie Heights,

Balgowlah Balgowlah is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balgowlah (or Bulgowlah) said to be an Aboriginal name for "North Harbour". The area now known as Balgowlah was known to the Aboriginals as Jilling. Balgo ...

Balgowlah Heights Balgowlah Heights is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 11 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Bea ...

, Balmoral, Beauty Point, Brookvale,

Clifton Gardens Clifton Gardens is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Clifton Gardens is located in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North Shore. Clifton Gardens ...

, Clontarf,

Cremorne Point Cremorne Point is a harbourside suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Cremorne is located 6 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Cremor ...

Curl Curl Curl Curl is a suburb of northern Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Northern Beaches region. Loca ...

, Fairlight, Freshwater,

Killarney Heights Killarney Heights is a suburb of Northern Sydney, situated on Middle Harbour, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Killarney Heights is 12 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of ...

Kurraba Point Kurraba Point is a harbourside suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kurraba Point is located 4 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. ...

, Manly,

Manly Vale Manly Vale is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Beaches r ...

North Balgowlah North Balgowlah is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. North Balgowlah is located 13 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council ...

, North Curl Curl, North Head, North Manly, Queenscliff, Seaforth, and

Wingala Wingala is a locality in the suburbs of North Curl Curl and Dee Why, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is within the Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beache ...

; as well as parts of Beacon Hill, Cremorne, Dee Why, Forestville,

Frenchs Forest Frenchs Forest (pron. frenches) is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Frenchs Forest is 13 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Cou ...

Narraweena Narraweena is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Narraweena is 18 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is part ...

, and

Neutral Bay Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Neutral Bay takes ...

. The Northern Beaches have long been a stronghold for the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

. The Liberals and their predecessors held the seat without interruption from its creation in 1922 until the 2019 federal election when

Zali Steggall Zali Steggall (born 16 April 1974) is an Australian politician, lawyer and former Olympic athlete. She has been independent member for Warringah since the 2019 Australian federal election when she defeated the incumbent, former Prime Minister ...

won the seat as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

. Even by northern Sydney standards, Warringah has been especially unfriendly territory for

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

. For example, even in its 1943 landslide, Labor was only able to garner 39 percent of the two-party vote in Warringah; Labor has never won more than 40.5 percent of the two-party vote in any election for this seat. Before 2019, the area covered by Warringah had been held by a conservative party without interruption since Federation; most of its territory had been part of North Sydney from 1901 to 1922. Most of Warringah's northern portion became the equally conservative Mackellar in 1949. The seat's most notable member was

Tony Abbott Anthony John Abbott (; born 4 November 1957) is a former Australian politician who served as the 28th prime minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He held office as the leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Abbott was born in Londo ...

, who won the seat at a

1994 by-election File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

and served as Prime Minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. He retained Warringah until being defeated by Steggall in 2019. That election also saw Warringah become a notional marginal seat in a "traditional" two-party contest against Labor for the first time; Abbott would have held the seat on 52.1 percent against Labor, down from 61 percent in 2016.

Members

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warringah, Division of Electoral divisions of Australia Constituencies established in 1922 1922 establishments in Australia Northern Beaches