Berowra – Election 2010

LIB 10.0%

Incumbent MP
Philip Ruddock, since 1993. Previously Member for Parramatta 1973-77, Member for Dundas 1977-1993.

Geography
Northern Sydney. Berowra covers most of Hornsby Shire and northern parts of the Hills. Major suburbs include Berowra, Hornsby, Cherrybrook, Pennant Hills, and Dural. It also stretches as far north as Dangar Island and Wisemans Ferry.

Redistribution
Berowra lost parts of Hornsby, which were transferred to Bradfield. In exchange, it gained territory around Dural from Mitchell.

History
Berowra was created at the 1969 election, and has always been safely retained by the Liberal Party.

The seat was first won in 1969 by Tom Hughes. Hughes had previously held the seat of Parkes since 1963, but its abolition in 1969 saw him move to Berowra. He was Attorney-General in John Gorton’s government, but was dropped from the cabinet when William McMahon became Prime Minister, and he retired at the 1972 election.

In 1972, the seat was won by Harry Edwards, a professor of economics at Macquarie University. Edwards held the seat for the next 21 years, retiring in 1993. He was replaced by Philip Ruddock, who had held other seats since 1973. Ruddock has held the seat ever since, serving as a senior minister for the entirety of the Howard government.

Candidates

  • Steve Evans (Christian Democratic Party)
  • Philip Ruddock (Liberal) – Member for Berowra since 1993. Previously Member for Parramatta 1973-77, Member for Dundas 1977-1993.
  • Toni Wright-Turner (Greens)
  • Michael Stove (Labor)
  • Christian Ellis (Family First)
  • Mick Gallagher (Independent)

Political situation
This seat is very safe for the Liberal Party.

2007 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Philip Ruddock LIB 44,525 53.42 -4.38
Michael Colnan ALP 25,563 30.67 +5.71
Wendy McMurdo GRN 7,653 9.18 +0.00
Ray Levick CDP 2,125 2.55 -0.52
Mick Gallagher IND 1,456 1.75 +1.75
Sam Ellis FF 1,049 1.26 +0.15
Rob McFarlane DEM 974 1.17 -0.65

2007 two-candidate-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing
Philip Ruddock LIB 49,122 59.94 -4.88
Michael Colnan ALP 34,223 41.06 +4.88

These results do not take into consideration the effects of the redistribution.

Booth breakdown
Booths in Mitchell have been divided into four areas, shown on the map below. The Liberal Party won majorities in all areas. They won over 70% in the Dural-Maroota area in the northwestern segment of the seat, polling 58% in the southern edge of the seat and around 53% in the Hornsby and Berowra areas. The Greens also polled over 10% in Hornsby and Berowra.

 

Polling booths in Berowra. Cherrybrook-Pennant Hills in yellow, Hornsby in green, Berowra in red, Dural-Maroota in blue.
Voter group GRN % LIB 2CP % Total votes % of ordinary votes
Cherrybrook-Pennant Hills 8.29 58.13 31,137 46.19
Dural-Maroota 7.32 72.88 15,363 22.79
Hornsby 10.34 53.36 13,732 20.37
Berowra 11.48 53.61 7,180 10.65
Other votes 9.03 60.36 16,273
Results of the 2007 federal election in Berowra.
Results of the 2007 federal election in southern Berowra.

9 COMMENTS

  2. I think that’s one of those inhabited Hawkesbury islands (Scotland Island?) where there’s an extremely high Green vote.

  3. Yeah, Dangar Island with its 125 votes. At the election it went Grn 41, ALP 38, Lib 14, which gives a meaningless ALP/Lib 2pp figure of 81%.

    Scotland Island (in MacKellar) got a similar thing: Grn 35, ALP 27, Lib 26, for an ALP/Lib 2pp of 68%. (Also on Scotland Island, the Climate Change Coalition got almost 10% compared to 2% in the whole seat.)

  7. The Cristian Democrats have put up a candidate for election, Hornsby councilor Steve Evans, a long time member of the Liberal Party. Cr Evans is currently under investigation by the NSW Ombudsman for breaches of the Hornsby Council code of conduct involving the 2008 Hornsby Council’s election.

Comments are closed.