LIB 12.9%
Incumbent MP
Geoff Lee, since 2011.
Geography
Western Sydney. Parramatta covers suburbs around the Parramatta CBD, including Carlingford, Dundas, Ermington, Harris Park, Rydalmere and parts of North Rocks. It covers a large proportion of the City of Parramatta and small parts of the City of Holroyd and the Hills Shire.
History
The electoral district of Parramatta has existed continuously since the first Legislative Assembly in 1856. The seat was first a two-member district until 1880, when it became a single-member district. It expanded in 1920 to become a three-member district, before becoming a single-member district in 1927. The seat was dominated by conservative parties in the early 20th century, but since the 1950s it has been dominated by the ALP, who have won all elections except for the 1956, 1988, 2011 and 2015 elections.
Parramatta was won in a 1916 by-election by Liberal candidate Albert Bruntnell. Over the previous decade he had twice served in the Legislative Assembly, representing Surry Hills and Annandale. He served as Member for Parramatta continuously until his death in 1929. When Parramatta expanded in 1920 it took over the previous seat of Granville, and the former Member for Granville, Jack Lang, was elected as a member for Parramatta. He twice served as Premier, and when single-member districts were restored in 1927, he was elected in Auburn.
The 1929 by-election was won by senior military officer Herbert Lloyd, running as a Nationalist. He lost in 1930, but later held Mosman from 1932 to 1941.
Parramatta was won in 1930 by the ALP’s Joseph Byrne. He held the seat until 1932, when an election was triggered by the Governor’s removal of Lang as Premier. Byrne was one of many casualties of the ensuing landslide.
George Gollan won Parramatta in 1932 for the United Australia Party. He served as a minister in UAP governments from 1938 to 1941. He held the seat until the 1953 election, when a redistribution made the seat stronger for the ALP. He retired and was succeeded by the ALP’s Kevin Morgan.
Morgan held the seat for one term, losing in 1956 to Jim Clough of the Liberal Party. Clough himself lost in 1959. He later held the seat of Eastwood from 1965 to 1988. He served as a minister for the final four months of the Liberal government in 1976.
Parramatta was won in 1959 by the ALP’s Dan Mahoney. He held the seat until his retirement in 1976. Barry Wilde, also of the ALP, held the seat from 1976 to 1988.
The Liberal Party’s John Books won Parramatta in 1988 by 268 votes. In 1991, the redistribution made the seat notionally Labor, and Books lost to the ALP’s Andrew Ziolkowski.
Ziolkowski was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus in 1993, and died in 1994. The ensuing by-election was won by his wife Gabrielle Harrison. Harrison served as Minister for Sport and Recreation in the first term of the Carr government from 1995 to 1999.
Prior to the 2003 election, Harrison faced a preselection challenge from Tanya Gadiel, an advisor to Police Minister Michael Costa. In the face of the challenge she stepped down, and Gadiel won the seat in 2003.
Gadiel was re-elected in 2007 and became a parliamentary secretary shortly after. She left that post in 2008 to serve as Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and she retired in 2011.
Liberal candidate Geoff Lee won Parramatta at the 2011 election, and he was re-elected in 2015.
Candidates
Assessment
Parramatta is a reasonably safe Liberal seat.
2015 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Geoff Lee | Liberal | 25,559 | 53.8 | +5.3 |
| James Shaw | Labor | 13,649 | 28.8 | +1.4 |
| Phil Bradley | Greens | 3,978 | 8.4 | -0.3 |
| Kamal Boutros | Christian Democrats | 1,603 | 3.4 | -0.7 |
| Michelle Garrard | Independent | 1,519 | 3.2 | +3.2 |
| Frank Arduca | No Land Tax | 672 | 1.4 | +1.4 |
| Joanne Kuniansky | Independent | 490 | 1.0 | +1.0 |
| Informal | 1,812 | 3.7 |
2015 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Geoff Lee | Liberal | 26,932 | 62.9 | +0.3 |
| James Shaw | Labor | 15,910 | 37.1 | -0.3 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Parramatta have been split into four parts: east, north-east, south-west, and west.
The Liberal Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all four areas, ranging from 57.9% in the south-west to 65.7% in the north-east.
| Voter group | LIB 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| North-East | 65.7 | 11,988 | 25.3 |
| West | 65.3 | 9,161 | 19.3 |
| East | 62.9 | 5,950 | 12.5 |
| South-West | 57.9 | 5,541 | 11.7 |
| Other votes | 61.0 | 12,229 | 25.8 |
| Pre-poll | 60.8 | 2,601 | 5.5 |
Two-party-preferred votes in Parramatta at the 2015 NSW state election
Mark Latham lives in Liverpool, I think, and this nearby seat might work for him as the NSW One Nation leader in the NSW 2019 election.
Adrian, Latham lives in Mount Hunter, and I think your comment is in the wrong spot? I live in the electorate of Fowler which is a neighbour to Werriwa.
What has Werriwa got to do with Latham?
Latham was Werriwa MP 1994-2005 Daniel.
Anyway, back to Parramatta, overinflated Liberal margin here, this should go with the winner, although this is a very Liberal-friendly version of Parramatta, on the current boundaries.
Yep definitely overinflated margin, was marginal Labor in typical elections (1995) and becoming very safe labor during landslide wins like 1999 and 2003
Off topic, But Ben, Could you please post Vaucluse next if possible?
Vaucluse will be up on Nov 27. If you want it sooner you could sign up as a donor.
Geoff Lee is still quite popular but will be facing a natural swing against him plus has to contend with a couple of contentious issues:
*M4 and WestConnex
*The proposed Light Rail to Castle Hill
*The Old Pool that was knocked down to make way for the new Western Sydney Stadium, at the foot of the old Parramatta.
As has been stated before, this is a very Liberal-Friendly boundary for Parramatta. I’d say Lee holds on but with a margin at 3%
The disparities between state and federal figures here are eye-popping.
The boundaries are quite different but even at the booth level there is a sizeable difference.
Can someone who lives in this seat please provide insight into why this seat is so strong for the liberal party considering demographics and the federal booth results? I work st Parramatta 3 days or so a week and stick to CBD and also walk through Harris Park…I cannot understand how the latter, in particular, votes and in the last few weeks displays so heavily for the liberals…
I actually live in this seat. Some of it is the boundaries – federal Parramatta goes a lot further south. But I think it also reflects that a big swing in 2011 hasn’t really swung back, and the state government has put a lot into this seat.
Thank you Ben. Much appreciated. Just been observing saturation of lib campaign material in Harris Park and a bit perplexed based on my reading of demographics..
Possible Liberal hold, expect this to be key in who gets more seats in the next Parliament, and the resulyt here to be within 3%.
Hello Ben. I am 80 years old and am not sure where I can vote. I have looked for a booth close to hammers Road. Can you help me please. Can you also tell me who the major party candidates are also . Thank you
Hi Patricia, this is my guide to the 2019 state election in Parramatta. My guide to the Parramatta council election is here.
Hammers Road is in Parramatta Ward. There’s a booth at Northmead Uniting Church and another one at Northmead Public School not far away.
You can see the booths in Parramatta Ward at this link.
You can see the list of candidates for each ward at the end of the 2021 guide linked to above. There are four groups running in Parramatta Ward: Labor, Greens, Our Local Community and the Liberal Democrats. There is no Liberal candidate, neither official or unofficial.