Balmain is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of

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 ...

in Sydney's Inner West. It is currently represented by

Jamie Parker Jamie Parker (born 14 August 1979) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Harry Potter in the original cast for the West End play ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award f ...

of the

Greens New South Wales The Greens New South Wales, commonly known as Greens NSW, is a green political party in New South Wales and a member of the Australian Greens. First formed in 1991, the Greens NSW began as a state-level party before joining with other green par ...

. Balmain includes the suburbs and localities of Annandale, Balmain, Balmain East, Birchgrove, Forest Lodge,

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

Glebe Island Glebe Island was a major port facility in Sydney Harbour and, in association with the adjacent White Bay facility, was the primary receiving venue for imported cars and dry bulk goods in the region until 2008. It is surrounded by White, Johnsto ...

Leichhardt Leichhardt may refer to: * Division of Leichhardt, electoral District for the Australian House of Representatives * Leichhardt Highway, a highway of Queensland, Australia * Leichhardt Way, an Australian road route * Leichhardt, New South Wales, inn ...

Lilyfield Lilyfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lilyfield is located 6 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Lilyfie ...

Rozelle Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Inner West Council. Location Rozelle s ...

, White Bay and parts of Camperdown and Ultimo.

History

Balmain was established in 1880 and from 1882, it elected two members, from 1885 it elected three members and from 1889 until 1894 it elected four members simultaneously. Voters cast a vote for each vacancy and the leading candidates were elected. In 1894 it was split into Balmain North, Balmain South, Annandale and

, each electing one member. In 1904 with the downsizing of the Assembly after

Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governin ...

, Balmain North and part of Balmain South were combined into a single electorate, electing one member. In 1920, parts of the electoral districts of Balmain, Annandale, Camperdown, Darling Harbour,

and

were combined to create a new incarnation of Balmain, which elected five members by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. This was replaced by single member electorates of Balmain, Annandale, Glebe and Rozelle for the 1927 election. Balmain was abolished in 1991, being replaced by

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 ...

. It was recreated for the 2007 election, taking in large parts of the abolished district of Port Jackson (the Sydney CBD and Pyrmont, which were previously in Port Jackson, became part of the new

Electoral district of Sydney Sydney is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of New South Wales in Inner Sydney. It includes the Sydney CBD; the suburbs and localities of Barangaroo, Broadway, Chinatown, Darling Harbour, Darlinghurst ...

). Historically, Balmain has been a working-class seat and very safe for —at the 1978 election, Labor won an 84.2 percent two-party vote. However, as with several inner-city seats, demographic change and the rise of the has seen a strong Green vote in Balmain since the party first contested the seat from the seat's recreation at the 2007 election. Following the 2019 election, it is considered a safe Greens seat. Matthews ALP supporters

Members for Balmain

Election results

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmain Electoral districts of New South Wales 1880 establishments in Australia Constituencies established in 1880 1894 disestablishments in Australia Constituencies disestablished in 1894 1904 establishments in Australia Constituencies established in 1904 1991 disestablishments in Australia Constituencies disestablished in 1991 2007 establishments in Australia Constituencies established in 2007