Electoral district of Camden

Camden New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Location within Sydney
State	New South Wales
Dates current	1859–1920, 1981–current
MP	Chris Patterson
Party	Liberal Party of Australia
Electors	50,907 (2011)
Area	228 km^2 (88.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

Camden is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's south-west. It is currently represented by Chris Patterson of the Liberal Party of Australia.

It currently includes the suburbs of Austral, Badgerys Creek, Bickley Vale, Bringelly, Camden, Camden Park, Camden South, Catherine Field, Cawdor, Cobbitty, Currans Hill, Elderslie, Ellis Lane, Gledswood Hills, Grasmere, Greendale, Gregory Hills, Harrington Park, Kirkham, Leppington, Luddenham, Mount Annan, Narellan, Narellan Vale, Oran Park, Rossmore, Smeaton Grange, Spring Farm, Wallacia and West Hoxton.^[1]

History

Camden was originally created in 1859, replacing part of West Camden and named after the town of Camden or Camden County, which includes Camden, the Southern Highlands and the Illawarra. It elected two members from 1859 to 1889 and three members from 1889 to 1894, when multi-member electorates were abolished. It was abolished in 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation and absorbed into Cumberland. It was recreated in 1981.^[2] In recent decades it has been a marginal seat, falling to both the Labor and Liberal parties on separate occasions. Except in 1984-91 and 1995-2003, Camden in its second incarnation, has been held by the government party.

Camden was evident as a bellwether seat at the 1991 election when the ALP lost the seat to the Liberal Party despite the former party making huge gains at that election which was close but not enough for them to win the election. If the ALP had retained Camden in 1991, the party would have been in a strong position to form a minority government when it then won The Entrance by-election in 1992.

Members for Camden

First incarnation (1859–1889, 2 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Henry Oxley	None	1859–1860		William Wild	None	1859–1860
	John Morrice	None	1860–1872		John Douglas	None	1860–1861
				David Bell	None	1861–1864
				Richard Roberts	None	1864–1869
				Arthur Onslow	None	1869–1880
	Thomas Garrett	None	1872–1887
				John Kidd	None	1880–1882
				William McCourt	None	1882–1885
				John Kidd	None	1885–1887
		Free Trade	1887–1889		William McCourt	Free Trade	1887–1889

(1889–1894, 3 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Thomas Garrett	Free Trade	1889–1891		William McCourt	Free Trade	1889–1894		John Kidd	Protectionist	1889–1894
	William Cullen	Free Trade	1891–1894

(1894–1920, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	John Kidd	Protectionist	1894–1895
	Charles Bull	Free Trade	1895–1898
	John Kidd	Protectionist	1898–1901
		Progressive	1901–1904
	Fred Downes	Liberal Reform	1904–1913
	John Hunt	Liberal Reform	1913–1917
		Nationalist	1917–1920
Second incarnation (1981–present, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	Ralph Brading	Labor	1981–1984
	John Fahey	Liberal	1984–1988
	Peter Primrose	Labor	1988–1991
	Liz Kernohan	Liberal	1991–2003
	Geoff Corrigan	Labor	2003–2011
	Chris Patterson	Liberal	2011–present

Election results

New South Wales state election, 2015: Camden^[3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Liberal	Chris Patterson	29,545	61.4	−2.8
	Labor	Cindy Cagney	13,105	27.2	+4.5
	Greens	Danica Sajn	2,551	5.3	−0.2
	No Land Tax	Mario Tabone	1,513	3.1	+3.1
	Christian Democrats	Colin Broadbridge	1,440	3.0	−0.1
Total formal votes			48,154	96.4	+0.4
Informal votes			1,800	3.6	−0.4
Turnout			49,954	93.1	+6.3
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Chris Patterson	30,693	68.3	−4.5
	Labor	Cindy Cagney	14,258	31.7	+4.5
	Liberal hold		Swing	−4.5

References

1. "Camden". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
2. "Former Members". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
3. State Electoral District of Camden: First Preference Votes, NSWEC.
4. State Electoral District of Camden: Distribution of Preferences, NSWEC.

External links

• "Camden". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 17 April 2015.