Macquarie Fields – NSW 2019

ALP 8.1%

Incumbent MP
Anoulack Chanthivong, since 2015.

Geography
Southwestern Sydney. Macquarie Fields covers northern suburbs of the City of Campbelltown and a small part of the City of Liverpool. Suburbs include Denham Court, Edmondson Park, Glenfield, Ingleburn, Kearns, Macquarie Fields, Minto, Raby and St Andrews.

History
The seat of Macquarie Fields was first established at the 1988 election. It was a successor to the seat of Ingleburn, which was the first seat created between the seats of Liverpool and Campbelltown when it was created in 1981. The 1988 election shifted the seat north, and renamed the seat to reflect the change. In 1991, the seat moved deeper into Liverpool, and was renamed Moorebank. The changes were partly reversed in 1999, when the seat was again named Macquarie Fields. It has had that name ever since. This seat, whatever its name, has always been held by the ALP. The seat was held continuously by the Knowles family from 1981 to 2005.

Ingleburn was first won in 1981 by Liverpool deputy mayor Stan Knowles. He was re-elected in 1984 and 1988, the last time in the renamed seat of Macquarie Fields. Knowles resigned in 1990, and the ensuing by-election was won by his son Craig, a former Mayor of Liverpool.

Knowles was re-elected in the renamed Moorebank in 1991 and 1995, before his seat was again named Macquarie Fields in 1999. He joined the ministry upon Labor winning government in 1995, and after the 2003 election held a large ministerial brief. His position was damaged by his tenure as Minister for Health, and while he had once been considered a possible successor to Bob Carr as Premier, by the time of Carr’s retirement in 2005 Knowles was no longer considered a contender. Knowles retired at the same time as Carr and his deputy, Andrew Refshauge.

The 2005 by-election was won by Campbelltown city councillor Steven Chaytor. He was opposed at the Macquarie Fields by-election by former nurse and whistleblower Nola Fraser, running for the Liberals. The ALP suffered a 12% swing in the by-election.

At 29, Chaytor was considered an up-and-comer in the party. This was cut short barely a year later, when he faced charges of assault against his partner from an incident in December 2006. With the impending election, Chaytor was suspended from the ALP. He was found guilty in January 2007, after which he was expelled from the ALP and a new candidate was found. The ALP now preselected Dr Andrew McDonald, a doctor with previous involvement with Campbelltown Hospital around the time of the issues which had affected Knowles as Minister for Health and had led to Nola Fraser’s political involvement.

Chaytor’s conviction was later overturned on appeal, and he served out his term on Campbelltown City Council, retiring in September 2008.

At the 2007 election, McDonald held off against Fraser, with a similar 12% swing to that in the 2005 by-election. In 2011, McDonald was re-elected, holding on against a below-average anti-Labor swing of 9.7%.

McDonald retired in 2015, and was succeeded by Labor candidate Anoulack Chanthivong.

Candidates

• Scott Singh (Keep Sydney Open)
• Mick Allen (Independent)
• Syed Ahmed (Independent)
• Zahurul Quazi (Liberal)
• Stephen Eagar-Deitz (Greens)
• Anoulack Chanthivong (Labor)

Assessment
Macquarie Fields is a relatively safe Labor seat.

2015 result

2015 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown

Booths in Macquarie Fields have been split into four parts: north (including Glenfield and Macquarie Fields), west (including Raby and St Andrews), Ingleburn and Minto.

Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all four areas, ranging from 55.4% in the east to 60.9% in Minto.

Two-party-preferred votes in Macquarie Fields at the 2015 NSW state election

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