The Division of Mackellar 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 ...

History

The division is named after Sir Charles Mackellar, a social reformer and surgeon who served in the Senate from October to November 1903, and his daughter

Dorothea Mackellar Isobel Marion Dorothea Mackellar, (1 July 1885 – 14 January 1968) was an Australian poet and fiction writer. Her poem ''My Country'' is widely known in Australia, especially its second stanza, which begins: "''I love a sunburnt country/ ...

, a 20th-century Australian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 federal election. It was first held by

Bill Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (8 September 1907 – 15 June 2003), usually known as Bill Wentworth and sometimes referred to by others as William Charles Wentworth IV, was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party for most of ...

, the first Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and the great-grandson of politician and explorer

William Wentworth William Charles Wentworth (August 179020 March 1872) was an Australian pastoralist, explorer, newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and author, who became one of the wealthiest and most powerful figures of early colonial New South Wales. Throug ...

, one of the first three Europeans to cross the Blue Mountains. Like most seats in northern Sydney, Mackellar was a safe seat 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 ...

for the majority of its history. Prior to 2022, for all but two months of its existence, the seat was held by Liberal MPs; Wentworth briefly sat as an independent for the last two months of his term. The territory covered by the electorate had been represented by centre-right MPs for most of its history since Federation; it was part of North Sydney before 1922, and then part of

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 ...

from 1922 to 1949. In

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

, Wentworth only tallied 55.2 percent of the two party vote. This election was also the first time the Liberals had come up short of winning enough votes on the first count to win the seat outright. It would be half a century before the Liberals’ hold on the seat would be seriously threatened again. Former Speaker of the House of Representatives Bronwyn Bishop held the seat from 1994 until 2016, when she lost a preselection contest for the Liberal Party candidacy following an expenses scandal. The Liberal Party preselected

Jason Falinski Jason George Falinski (born 24 August 1970) is a former Australian Liberal Party politician. He was first elected as the Member for Mackellar in the Australian House of Representatives at the 2016 Australian election and was re-elected at the ...

to contest the seat, who won both the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Federal elections. Following the 2022 federal election, a Liberal candidate lost the election for the first time in the seat's history. Falinski lost over 11 percent of his primary vote from 2019, and was unseated by

teal independent The teal independents, sometimes simply referred to as teals, are a loosely-aligned group of independent and minor party politicians in Australian politics. They have been characterised as strongly advocating for increased action to mitigate cli ...

Sophie Scamps Sophie Anna Rebecca Scamps (born 15 March 1971) is an Australian independent politician, general practitioner, and former athlete. In the 2022 Australian federal election, she was elected as the Member for Mackellar in the Australian House of ...

as part of a wave of Liberal losses in wealthy metropolitan seats.

Boundaries

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. The division is located in 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 entra ...

region 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 ...

, adjacent to 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 Abe ...

, south of

Broken Bay Broken Bay, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a large inlet of the Tasman Sea located about north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separa ...

and the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

. The division includes the suburbs of

Akuna Bay The Akuna Bay is a bay within Broken Bay, located in the Northern Beaches Council local government area in the Northern Suburbs of Sydney, Australia. The bay is fed by Coal and Candle Creek, with its land boundaries encased within the Ku-ring-g ...

Avalon Beach Avalon Beach is a northern beachside suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 37 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Beache ...

, Bayview,

Belrose Belrose is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 19 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Belrose is also considered to be part of th ...

Bilgola Beach Bilgola Beach is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 33 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Northern ...

, Bilgola Plateau, Careel Bay, Church Point, Clareville,

Coasters Retreat Coasters Retreat is an offshore suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, 42 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Location Coaste ...

, Collaroy,

Collaroy Plateau Collaroy Plateau is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Collaroy Plateau is 22 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council ...

, Cottage Point,

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

, Duffys Forest, Elanora Heights, Elvina Bay,

Great Mackerel Beach Great Mackerel Beach is a suburb about 43 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, from 2016 in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, formerly part of Pittwater Council. I ...

, Ingleside,

Lovett Bay Lovett Bay is a suburb and adjacent bay in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 36 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Lovett Bay is i ...

, McCarrs Creek, Mona Vale, Morning Bay,

Narrabeen Narrabeen is a beachside suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Narrabeen is 23 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council and is ...

, Newport,

North Narrabeen North Narrabeen is a suburb in northern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. North Narrabeen is part of the Northern B ...

Oxford Falls Oxford Falls is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 20 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Oxford Falls is part of t ...

, Palm Beach,

Scotland Island Scotland Island is an island and suburb on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Church Point, New South Wales, Church Point, Scotland Island's major mainland service locality, is located 32 kilometres no ...

Terrey Hills Terrey Hills is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Forest District and ...

Towlers Bay Towlers Bay is a locality in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, north of the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, situated on the Northern Beaches (Sydney), Northern Beaches. The bay located there, formerly of the same name, was renamed Mor ...

Warriewood Warriewood is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Warriewood is located 26 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Warriewood is par ...

, Whale Beach, and Wheeler Heights; as well as parts of Beacon Hill,

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 ...

, 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 ...

, and

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 ...

Members

Election results

References

External links

Division of Mackellar - Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackellar, Division of Electoral divisions of Australia Constituencies established in 1949 1949 establishments in Australia Northern Beaches