Pittwater – NSW 2019

LIB 25.7% vs GRN

Incumbent MP
Rob Stokes, since 2007.

Geography
Northern beaches of Sydney. The seat covers all of Pittwater council area and northern parts of Warringah council area. The seat covers Narrabeen, Warriewood, Elanora Heights, Mona Vale, Newport, Avalon and Scotland Island.

History
The seat of Pittwater has existed since the 1973 election. It has been dominated by the Liberal Party throughout that period. The Liberal Party has won the seat at every general election, although it was won by an independent at the 2005 by-election, and he held the seat until 2007.

The seat was first won in 1973 by Liberal Premier Robert Askin. He had first been elected to Parliament in 1950 as the member for the new seat of Collaroy. He became Leader of the Opposition in 1959, and ended 24 years of Labor rule in NSW when he became Premier at the 1965 election.

Collaroy was abolished in 1973, and Askin moved to the new seat of Pittwater, covering much of the same territory as his former seat. Askin retired as Premier and from Parliament in 1975.

The 1975 Pittwater by-election was won by Liberal candidate Bruce Webster. He held the seat until 1978.

Pittwater was won in 1978 by Liberal candidate Max Smith. He won re-election in 1981 and 1984, but after winning a third term in 1984 he resigned from the Liberal Party to sit as an independent. He resigned from Parliament in 1986.

The 1986 by-election was won by Liberal candidate Jim Longley. He served as a minister from 1992 to 1995, and retired in 1996.

Another by-election was held in 1996, and was won by John Brogden. He was promoted to the Coalition frontbench after the 1999 election. In March 2002, he challenged Opposition Leader Kerry Chikarovski and won a narrow party room vote. He led the Liberal Party to a landslide defeat in 2003, but later in the term appeared on track to win the next election.

Following the retirement of Premier Bob Carr in 2005, Brogden was exposed for offensive comments he made about the retiring Premier’s wife, and he was forced to resign as Liberal leader. Shortly after, he made an unsuccessful suicide attempt, and resigned as Member for Pittwater.

At the following by-election, the Liberals were hit hard by accusations that Brogden’s opponents in the party had pursued him and brought about the end of his political career. The seat was won by independent candidate Alex McTaggart, the Mayor of Pittwater.

At the 2007 election, McTaggart lost to Liberal candidate Alex Stokes, a former advisor to John Brogden. Stokes was re-elected in 2011 and 2015.

Stokes served as a Parliamentary Secretary in the O’Farrell government, and has served as a minister since 2014.

Candidates

  • Natalie Matkovic (Animal Justice)
  • Stewart Matthews (Independent)
  • Robert Stokes (Liberal)
  • Stacey Mitchell (Conservatives)
  • Michael Newman (Keep Sydney Open)
  • Miranda Korzy (Greens)
  • Jared Turkington (Labor)
  • Suzanne Daly (Sustainable Australia)
  • Assessment
    Pittwater is a very safe Liberal seat.

    2015 result

    Candidate Party Votes % Swing
    Rob Stokes Liberal 32,761 67.8 -4.2
    Felicity Davis Greens 7,780 16.1 -0.7
    Kieren Ash Labor 6,167 12.8 +3.8
    Zoran Curcic Christian Democrats 886 1.8 -0.4
    Rebecca Arduca No Land Tax 751 1.6 +1.6
    Informal 1,202 2.4

    2015 two-candidate-preferred result

    Candidate Party Votes % Swing
    Rob Stokes Liberal 33,706 75.7 -2.3
    Felicity Davis Greens 10,847 24.3 +2.3

    2015 two-party-preferred result

    Candidate Party Votes % Swing
    Rob Stokes Liberal 34,015 77.9 -6.6
    Kieren Ash Labor 9,653 22.1 +6.6

    Booth breakdown

    Booths in Pittwater have been split into four areas based around key suburbs. From north to south these are: Avalon, Newport, Mona Vale, Narrabeen.

    The Liberal Party won a majority of the two-candidate-preferred vote (against the Greens) in all four areas, ranging from 69.2% in Avalon to 77.5% in Mona Vale.

    Labor came third, with a primary vote ranging from 11.5% in Newport to 14% in Narrabeen.

    Voter group ALP prim % LIB 2CP % Total votes % of votes
    Narrabeen 14.0 77.3 12,146 25.1
    Mona Vale 12.4 77.5 7,624 15.8
    Newport 11.5 73.8 6,642 13.7
    Avalon 11.9 69.2 6,185 12.8
    Other votes 12.6 75.3 9,209 19.0
    Pre-poll 13.2 79.0 6,539 13.5

    Election results in Pittwater at the 2015 NSW state election
    Toggle between two-candidate-preferred (Liberal vs Greens) votes and Labor primary votes.

    Become a Patron!

    5 COMMENTS

    1. Someone said on the Mackellar page about getting a kick out of seeing the Scotland Island booth… boy, they weren’t wrong! Hahahahaha!!

    2. Wow Scotland Island is so Green surrounded by a sea of blue Libs. Wish I could see votes for all parties on this thingo. Still a rad application tho 😉

    3. Dog Person, you can toggle off the 2CP and on the ALP primary vote on that map, and you can also scroll up to the booth breakdown map and click on a booth to see the Lib, Greens and ALP primary vote per booth.

    4. Pretty sure it is only a handful of people on Scotland Island and the only consistent Liberal Voter there is Piers Akerman.

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here