Electoral district of Wollongong

Wollongong is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Paul Scully of the Labor Party.^[1] Since a redistribution in 2013,^[2] it has covered an area of 79.25 square kilometres and includes the localities of Berkeley, Coachwood Park, Coniston, Cordeaux Heights, Corrimal, Cringila, Fairy Meadow, Farmborough Chase, Farmborough Heights, Figtree, Gwynneville, Kembla Grange, Kembla Heights, Kemblawarra, Lake Heights, Lindsay Heights, Mangerton, Mount Kembla, Mount Saint Thomas, North Wollongong, Port Kembla, Primbee, Spring Hill, Towradgi, Unanderra, Warrawong, West Wollongong, Windang, Wollongong.^[3]

Wollongong New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Interactive map of district boundaries from the 2023 state election
State	New South Wales
Dates current	1904–1920 1927–1930 1968–present
MP	Paul Scully
Party	Labor
Namesake	Wollongong
Electors	60,829 (2019)
Area	79.25 km2 (30.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial
Electorates around Wollongong: Keira Keira Pacific Ocean Keira Wollongong Pacific Ocean Shellharbour Shellharbour Pacific Ocean

In August 2016, Noreen Hay resigned from the Legislative Assembly triggering a third by-election to be held on 12 November 2016, the other two being Canterbury and Orange.^[4][5] Scully won the by-election, retaining the seat for the Labor party.^[6]

History

Wollongong was created in 1904, replacing parts of Woronora and Illawarra.^[7][8] In 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, it was absorbed into Wollondilly, along with Allowrie. In 1927, with the abolition of proportional representation, it was recreated, along with a new Illawarra electorate. In 1930, it was replaced by Bulli. In 1941, a new electorate of Wollongong-Kembla was created. This was split into Wollongong and Kembla in 1968. Wollongong has rarely been won by the right wing Liberal party and in recent decades has become one of Labor's safest seats.

Members for Wollongong

First incarnation (1904–1920)
Member		Party	Term
	John Nicholson	Labour	1904–1916
		Nationalist	1916–1917
	Billy Davies	Labor	1917–1920
Second incarnation (1927–1930)
Member		Party	Term
	Billy Davies	Labor	1927–1930
Third incarnation (1968–present)
Member		Party	Term
	Jack Hough	Liberal	1968–1971
	Eric Ramsay	Labor	1971–1984
	Frank Arkell	Independent	1984–1991
	Gerry Sullivan	Labor	1991–1999
	Col Markham	Labor	1999–2003
	Noreen Hay	Labor	2003–2016
	Paul Scully	Labor	2016–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Wollongong

2023 New South Wales state election: Wollongong^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Paul Scully	27,723	56.5	+4.9
	Liberal	Joel Johnson	10,776	22.0	+0.8
	Greens	Cath Blakey	8,216	16.7	+3.4
	Animal Justice	Kristen Nelson	2,347	4.8	+2.3
Total formal votes			49,062	96.1	+0.5
Informal votes			2,011	3.9	−0.5
Turnout			51,073	86.8	−1.6
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Paul Scully	33,962	74.3	+1.5
	Liberal	Joel Johnson	11,727	25.7	−1.5
	Labor hold		Swing	+1.5

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2023 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly) § Wollongong.[edit]

References

1. Pearson, Andrew (12 November 2016). "Labor's Paul Scully claims Wollongong byelection win". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 23 November 2016.
2. "2013 Redistribution process". 2013 NSW Electoral Boundaries Redistribution. New South Wales Electoral Commission. 23 January 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
3. "Wollongong". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
4. McIlwain, Kate (2 August 2016). "Independents line up as Noreen Hay resigns". Illawarra Mercury. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
5. "Noreen Hay to resign after 13 years in NSW Parliament". ABC News. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
6. "Wollongong two candidate preferred count". Electoral Commission New South Wales. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
7. "New Electorate Boundaries". Illawarra Mercury. 27 April 1904. Retrieved 6 February 2015 – via Trove.
8. "The new electorates: where and what they are". Evening News. 26 March 1904. p. 3. Retrieved 7 December 2019 – via Trove.
9. LA First Preference: Wollongong, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
10. LA Two Candidate Preferred: Wollongong, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.