Electoral district of Balmain

Balmain is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. In 2007, it was won by Verity Firth of the Australian Labor Party against her Greens opponent, Rochelle Porteous. Traditionally, this was a working-class seat and very safe for the ALP; however as with several inner-city seats, demographic change has led to a rise in the Green vote.

The 2004 redistribution of electoral districts estimated that the electoral district would have 49,240 electors on 29 April 2007. [cite web
title=Redistribution Commissioners' Report
date= 21 December 2004
publisher = Election Funding Authority of New South Wales
url = http://efa.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/2105/pagesivtovii300.pdf
accessdate = 2007-01-27]

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 and Balmain South, Annandale and Leichhardt, each electing one member. In 1904 with the downsizing of the Assembly after Federation, 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, Glebe and Rozelle were combined to create a new incarnation of Balmain, which elected four members by proportional representation. This was replaced by single member electorates, including parts of Balmain, Annandale, Glebe and Rozelle for the 1927 election. Balmain was abolished in 1991, being replaced by Port Jackson. It was recreated for the 2007 election, largely replacing the abolished district of Port Jackson.

Members for Balmain

Election results

Election box begin
title=New South Wales state election, 2007: BalmainElection box candidate AU party
candidate = Verity Firth
party = Labor
votes = 16,562
percentage = 39.2
change = -2.9

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Rochelle Porteous
party = Greens
votes = 12,471
percentage = 29.5
change = +0.2

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Peter Shmigel
party = Liberal
votes = 10,031
percentage = 23.8
change = +2.7

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Jane Ward
party = Independent
votes = 1,297
percentage = 3.1
change = +3.1

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Jane Hyde
party = Independent
votes = 987
percentage = 2.3
change = +2.3

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Edward Okulicz
party = Democrats
votes = 881
percentage = 2.1
change = -0.3

Election box formal
votes = 43,317
percentage = 97.3
change =

Election box informal
votes = 1,088
percentage = 2.7
change =

Election box turnout
votes = 44,405
percentage =
change =

Election box candidate AU party
party = Labor
candidate = Verity Firth
votes = 17,916
percentage = 53.8
change = -3.2

Election box candidate AU party
party = Greens
candidate = Rochelle Porteous
votes = 15,370
percentage = 46.2
change = +3.2

Election box hold AU party
winner = Labor
swing = -3.2

References

External links

*cite web
title=Balmain Electoral District
publisher = New South Wales Electoral Commission
url = http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/state_government_elections/electoral_districts/all_districts_/balmain
accessdate = 2007-01-27
*cite web
title=State Electoral District - Balmain Results 2007
publisher = New South Wales Electoral Commission
url = http://vtr.elections.nsw.gov.au/lapreferential.balmain.aspx
accessdate = 2007-05-05