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| Australian federal election, 2016
Division of Mackellar, New South Wales
Northern Sydney: Collaroy, Narrabeen, Newport, Terrey Hills
Sitting member: Hon Bronwyn Bishop (Liberal), elected 1994 (Senator 1987-95). Retiring 2016
Enrolment at close of rolls: 108,319
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 18.8%
2016 Liberal majority over Labor: 18.8%
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Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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1. Liam Gavin
Independent |
2. Jim Ball
Independent |
3. Mike Hall
Australian Greens |
4. Annie Wright
Christian Democrats |
5. Jason Falinksi
Liberal Party |
6. Rhonda Funnell
Australian Labor Party |
7. Julie Hegarty
Independent |
2013 results
Statistics and history
Mackellar was created in 1949, based on the northern beaches suburbs of Sydney, and its boundaries have not changed much since. This is an affluent area and the seat has always been safe for the Liberal Party. It is among the top 10% of electorates in terms of median family incomes, although its proportion of people in professional occupations is not as high as those in seats closer to the city centre. In 2013 the Liberal Party won every polling booth except Scotland Island, which has 270 voters. Since its creation Mackellar has had only three members, all ministers in Liberal governments.
Bronwyn Bishop, Liberal MP for Mackellar since 1994, was elected to the Senate in 1987, and was on the opposition front bench from 1989. She shifted to the House of Representatives at a 1994 by-election. For a time in the early 1990s she was regarded as a possible Liberal leadership contender. She was a junior minister in the Howard government but was dropped after the 2001 election, by which time she was no longer seen as leadership material. She was a strong supporter of Tony Abbott, and as a result she was elected Speaker when Abbott became PM. She was regarded as highly partisan in this role, and found little sympathy when she was accused of abusing her entitlements. She denied this, but resigned in August 2015.
Bishop was determined to stand again in 2016, but at 73 she could not rally support and was defeated in a party ballot. She is the longest-serving female member in the history of the Australian Parliament. Her successor will be Jason Falinksi, managing director of CareWell Health, a medical equipment supplier and a former Warringah councillor. Mackellar's boundaries have not been changed by the 2016 redistribution, and it will remain a safe Liberal seat. The Labor candidate will be Rhonda Funnell, who teaches at the University of Technology Sydney. A former Liberal member, Jim Ball, will run as an independent in protest at the selection of the "known lefty" Falinski.
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Prospective pendulum, showing all candidates
State and territory maps, showing new boundaries
The thirty seats that will decide the election
Other seats of interest
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