ALP 22.4%
Incumbent MP
Paul Scully, since 2016.
- Geography
- Redistribution
- History
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- 2019 results
- Booth breakdown
- Results maps
Geography
Wollongong covers the Wollongong city centre, as well as surrounding suburbs including Berkeley, Lake Heights, Port Kembla and Unanderra.
Redistribution
Wollongong lost Cordeaux Heights, Farmborough Heights, Kembla Heights, Mount Kembla and part of Unanderra to Keira, and gained Brownsville and Kanahooka from Shellharbour. These changes increased the Labor margin from 21.4% to 22.4%.
History
The current electoral district of Wollongong has existed since 1968. Previous districts with the name of Wollongong existed from 1904 to 1920 and from 1927 to 1930. The current district has been dominated by the ALP, who have won the seat at all but three elections.
Wollongong was created in 1968 when the seat of Wollongong-Kembla was split between Wollongong and Kembla. Wollongong-Kembla had been held by the ALP continuously from its creation in 1941 until 1965, when it was won by the Liberal Party’s Jack Hough. Hough won the renamed seat of Wollongong in 1968, but lost in 1971.
Eric Ramsay won Wollongong in 1971. He held the seat safely throughout the 1970s, narrowly defeating independent Wollongong mayor Frank Arkell.
In 1984, Ramsay retired, and Arkell won the seat. He was re-elected in 1988, but lost the seat with a swing to the ALP in 1991. Arkell was murdered in 1998.
Wollongong was won in 1991 by the ALP’s Gerry Sullivan. He held the seat until 1999, when the ALP gave preselection in Wollongong to Col Markham, who had held the neighbouring seat of Keira since 1988.
Markham was defeated for Labor preselection in 2003 by Noreen Hay. She served as a parliamentary secretary from 2007 to 2008.
At the 2011 election, independent candidate Gordon Bradbery challenged Hay, and came within 700 votes of winning. Bradbery was elected Lord Mayor of Wollongong in 2012.
Hay was re-elected in 2015, but resigned in 2016. The 2016 by-election was won by Labor candidate Paul Scully. Scully was re-elected in 2019.
Assessment
Wollongong is a safe Labor seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Paul Scully | Labor | 25,776 | 50.1 | +9.7 | 51.5 |
| Zachary Fitzpatrick | Liberal | 11,427 | 22.2 | +1.2 | 21.5 |
| Benjamin Arcioni | Greens | 6,583 | 12.8 | +3.3 | 13.1 |
| Nikola Nastoski | Independent | 2,830 | 5.5 | +5.5 | 5.0 |
| Andrew Anthony | Sustainable Australia | 2,242 | 4.4 | +4.4 | 4.6 |
| Benjamin Bank | Animal Justice | 1,541 | 3.0 | +3.0 | 2.5 |
| James Hehir | Keep Sydney Open | 1,036 | 2.0 | +2.0 | 1.8 |
| Informal | 2,400 | 4.5 |
2019 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Paul Scully | Labor | 31,357 | 71.4 | +7.9 | 72.4 |
| Zachary Fitzpatrick | Liberal | 12,580 | 28.6 | -7.9 | 27.6 |
Booths in Wollongong have been split into three areas: north-east, south-east and west.
Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 69.9% in the north-east to 80.4% in the south-east.
The Greens came third, with a primary vote ranging from 9.2% in the west to 17.9% in the north-east.
| Voter group | GRN prim % | ALP 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| North-East | 17.9 | 69.9 | 13,419 | 27.9 |
| South-East | 10.1 | 80.4 | 8,664 | 18.0 |
| West | 9.2 | 75.2 | 5,955 | 12.4 |
| Pre-poll | 10.3 | 69.4 | 11,699 | 24.3 |
| Other votes | 15.1 | 70.8 | 8,390 | 17.4 |
Election results in Wollongong at the 2019 NSW state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party and the Greens.
Possible ALP vs Greens seat, but Greens no chance with OPV. Same with Newcastle.
John, I presume local Mayor Gordon Bradbery isn’t likely to run for this seat again. He did come within 1% of beating Noreen Hay at the landslide 2011 election (primary vote about 30%) and improved upon his vote (34%) when running at the 2016 by-election (although Labor’s vote also improved and without a Liberal candidate in the contest, he lost with 42% of the 2CP vote).
If Gordon runs, the seat could be competitive but otherwise it will be a safe Labor hold/retain. I guess Gordon is probably like Clover Moore in Sydney and would prefer to focus on local government rather than run for state parliament.
The Liberals have locked in Joel Johnson. A prominent UOW student with strong local political ties as an executive member of the YL Throsby branch. He has extensive experience in the hospitality industry, involved in a small manufacturing business and government work.
Throsby no longer exists stew
I’m well aware Ben. That’s the name of the local YL branch – clearly the name is a relic of the past.
Predicting a strong liberal swing in the southern end of the electorate. Kanahooka and Brownsville could even go Liberal with this Liberal strong candidate, Joel Johnson, leading the charge there.
which will tranalate to the northern end of kiama
Never heard of Joel until his announcement as candidate. And I’m sure I’m not alone. I don’t see any swing in this seat.
how ever it turns out the frozbey yung liberal branchwas foundid buy garith Ward he is part of wards faction Ward thanked him in 2019 for help in kiama aparently local cr Cameron Walters is also part of t his group now Gibbens has not ruled out preferensing him it seems ward has control of the ilawara liberals
is this the same johnson who works for mark speakman in Crunula i believe crunula is a long way away from wolongong
before that worked for a sydney based federal mp wonder how much time he has spent inthe aeria how he is the university of wolong liberal president
his katering corear did not last long iva never heard of him beforebut given who started the trhrozby yung liberals brancha bit misleading to call him a fresh face when he part of the moderit faction
Aaron- Just a point of clarification, the people of the Shire have quite the affinity with Wollongong as many high school leavers favour going to the Uni of Wollongong over Sydney based Universities and the commute isn’t too bad, lifestyle (beaches) are fairly similar.
So Cronulla to the Gong isn’t too much of a stretch
@Ben Raue please review Aaron (Newton)’s comments. He has repeatedly acted in bad faith and defaming liberal candidates. He has no evidence to back his statements (look at his comments on South Coast for example).
What Aaron has said is not true. Joel Johnson IS NOT FROM CRONULLA. He’s a dose of a reality check – people don’t always live in the same suburb they work. This is true for Joel Johnson regarding Cronulla.
The Hon Mark Speakman SC MP is the most intelligent and qualified member of the NSW Parliament. Joel having the opportunity to work along side him is yet another reason to vote for him. Minister Speakman’s character and contribution to public policy should be learnt by as many people as possible.
Yep sure, I’ll delete a few comments – watch yourself Aaron.
If there are specific comments you wish to complain about please send me a message through the contact form and be specific.
sorry if mycoments on sertain liberal candadates have been a bit harsh how ever wont mention it again but ward did thank the current liberal candadate for south coast in his first speech refering to him as his strongist suporter have no idea ifSikora is still part of that faction with in the young liberals i think paul skully will get a swing to him any way a lot can change since 2011 but i
Just not relevant here Aaron. I’d caution you to do some more research before making stupid claims regarding local ‘factions’.
i think the liberals have factions these daysany way it wont matter hear as this is a safe labor seat any way but dont get the liberals hear dont like mention of factions as if the liberals are united when it seems the liberals are more factionalised then labor now
Much afoot.
Much more afoot.