Prospect – NSW 2023

ALP 8.8%

Incumbent MP
Hugh McDermott, since 2015.

Geography
Western Sydney. Prospect covers parts of Blacktown, Fairfield and Cumberland local council areas, including the suburbs of Girraween, Greystanes, Pemulwuy, Prairiewood and parts of Blacktown, Seven Hills, Smithfield, Toongabbie, Wentworthville and Wetherill Park.

Redistribution
Prospect gained part of Seven Hills from the seat of Seven Hills and the remainder of Greystanes part of Wentworthville from Granville, while losing Bossley Park to Cabramatta and Arndell Park, Bungarribee and Huntingwood to Blacktown. These changes cut the Labor margin from 10.7% to 8.8%.

History
Prospect was created as a new seat in 2015, but effectively replaced Smithfield, which had existed as an electoral district since 1988. It has been won by Labor at all but one election since 1988.

Smithfield was first won by Janice Crosio. She had won the seat of Fairfield in 1981 and 1984, moving to Smithfield in 1988. She had served as a minister in the Labor state government from 1984 to 1988. She resigned from Smithfield to run for the federal seat of Prospect. She held Prospect from 1990 to 2004. She served as a parliamentary secretary in the Labor federal government from 1993 to 1996.

The 1990 Smithfield by-election was won by Carl Scully. He joined the ministry when the ALP won power in 1995. He planned to run for leader of the ALP upon Bob Carr’s retirement in 2005, but withdrew when it was clear that Morris Iemma would win the contest. Scully was forced to resign as a minister in late 2006, and he retired from Smithfield in 2007.

Scully was succeeded in 2007 by Fairfield councillor Ninos Khoshaba. In 2011, he lost to Liberal candidate Andrew Rohan with a 20% swing.

Labor’s Hugh McDermott won the renamed seat of Prospect in 2015, and he was re-elected in 2019.

Candidates

  • Kalvin Biag (Liberal)
  • Sujan Selventhiran (Greens)
  • Emily Walsh (Animal Justice)
  • Hugh McDermott (Labor)
  • Peter Shafer (Sustainable Australia)
  • Assessment
    Prospect is a reasonably safe Labor seat.

    2019 result

    Candidate Party Votes % Swing Redist
    Hugh McDermott Labor 24,235 51.7 +6.9 50.6
    Matthew Hana Liberal 15,851 33.8 -4.6 36.1
    Dorothea Newland Greens 2,345 5.0 -1.8 4.8
    Milan Maksimovic Independent 2,950 6.3 +6.3 4.2
    Catherine Ward Animal Justice 1,464 3.1 +3.1 2.5
    Others 1.8
    Informal 2,242 4.6

    2019 two-party-preferred result

    Candidate Party Votes % Swing Redist
    Hugh McDermott Labor 26,008 60.7 +7.3 58.8
    Matthew Hana Liberal 16,867 39.3 -7.3 41.2

    Booth breakdown

    Booths in Prospect have been split into three parts: east, north and south.

    Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, with 58.2% in the east and north, and 61% in the south.

    Voter group ALP 2PP % Total votes % of votes
    East 58.2 13,573 27.6
    North 58.2 10,800 21.9
    South 61.0 6,282 12.8
    Other votes 58.0 11,198 22.7
    Pre-poll 60.0 7,408 15.0

    Election results in Prospect at the 2019 NSW state election
    Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor and the Liberal Party.

    Become a Patron!

    15 COMMENTS

    1. Hugh McDermott… tsk tsk tsk. A very rude MP undeserving of his seat. Remember when he and Jodi McKay thuggishly assaulted a staffer in 2017? I do…

    2. Assistant Minister, I heard that Hugh defeated former MP Ninos Khoshaba for preselection back in 2015. I believe Ninos Khoshaba is a better MP compared to Hugh Mcdermott.

    3. Yoh An, i agree with you. i think Ninos Khoshaba,would be a better MP he is of an Assyrian background so was the Liberal MP, Andrew Rohan between 2011-2015. This seat has a huge Assyrian community. Prospect compared to most neighboring seats is not as strong for Labor so having a lacklustre MP is dangerous for Labor. I would also say Anne Staley in Werriwa is quite lacklustre and is in danger of gifting the seat to the Libs.

    4. Rumours are that the Liberals are locking in a very strong candidate for this seat. Said candidate is set to provide large volumes of their own volunteers. Will be interesting one to watch.

    5. ALP will win this every day of the week , but if your rumours are credible Stew as you claim, perhaps the margin might become a bit tighter.

    6. His Holiness Dr Paul Hugh McDermott MP, KC, VC and Bar, 007, has substantial skeletons in his closet. He is also quite good fun.

    7. Haven’t heard anything yet about a candidate for the Liberal Party here but, given Hugh McDermott’s track record of shithousery, this would be one that everyone would celebrate if he did manage to lose.

    8. I will guarantee one thing. It won’t be Matthew Hana, as he has now been kicked out of the Liberal Party and good riddance.

      I knew Matthew Hana well and I have never seen a more narcissistic prick in my life.

    9. The Liberals are looking to lock in Kalvin Biag. He is the said strong candidate with large numbers of volunteers and community support.

    10. Kalvin Biag has drawn top of the ballot paper, which will help him. I hope he gives it a good shake, as this is a patch of Sydney which is very much taken for granted electorally. Locals could do much better if a seat like this sat in the marginal column. I say all this as a Labor supporter btw.

      Sportsbet has Labor at $1.30 which is probably fair given the history and all the apparent momentum with Minns and his campaign. A meltdown of the rail network this week does no favours for the Libs in these parts.

    11. I find that a doubtful prospect (ha ha). By all indications the surrounding seats are swinging Labor and this should be no exception.

    12. Liberal candidate Kalvin Biag is allegedly still campaigning in the electorate… his social media seems to be supporting these claims – hosting shadow ministers for community catch ups, complete with Prospect colouring in books featuring Biag’s face on it.

      Wonder if this long term presence from Biag will shift votes to the Liberals.

    13. @austi he’s probly planning a 2027 rematch and given the result was almost neutral this time around in an election whwre labor got a shift towards it he’s probly playing the long game to get his profile up to boost his chances

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here