Ku-ring-gai was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. The electorate covers the suburbs and parts of the suburbs of Gordon, Hornsby, Killara, Lindfield, Normanhurst, North Turramurra, North Wahroonga, Pymble, South Turramurra, Thornleigh, Turramurra, Wahroonga, Waitara, Warrawee and West Pymble.[1]
| Ku-ring-gai New South Wales—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Location within Sydney | |||||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Dates current | 1973–2023 | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Kuringgai | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 54,441 (2019) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 52.45 km2 (20.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Urban | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
History
editKu-ring-gai was created before the 1973 election and was held by John Maddison, a minister in the government of Askin, who had previously been the member for Hornsby. Maddison retired in 1980 and future Premier of New South Wales Nick Greiner won the seat at a by-election. He held the seat until resigning from Parliament and as Premier in 1992 in the aftermath of the ICAC enquiry into the Metherell affair. He was succeeded by Stephen O'Doherty, who in 1999 chose to follow the majority of his constituents into the re-created seat of Hornsby. Barry O'Farrell transferred to Ku-ring-gai in 1999 after his seat of Northcott was abolished, and held it when he became Premier after leading the Coalition to a massive landslide victory in the 2011 state election. He resigned as premier in 2014 and retired from politics after the 2015 state election, handing the seat to fellow Liberal Alister Henskens.
Located in the Liberal heartland of the North Shore, Ku-ring-gai was in Liberal hands for its entire existence, and for much of that time was an ultra-safe seat even by North Shore standards. The Liberals never tallied less than 65 percent of the two-party vote, and always took the seat on the first count with no need for preferences. At the 2011 election, for instance, O'Farrell was reelected with 81.3% of the two-candidate-preferred vote, making Ku-ring-gai the safest seat in the entire NSW parliament.
While Labor frequently runs dead in north Sydney, Ku-ring-gai was particularly hostile territory for Labor. From the 1990s onward, Labor struggled to get 20 percent of the primary vote. In 2011, for example, Labor was pushed into third place behind the Greens. The seat is almost entirely within the federal seat of Bradfield, previously one of the safest federal Liberal seats in the country, prior to the 2022 election where it became marginal.[2]
At the time of its abolition, Ku-ring-gai was one of four electorates in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly that had been held by two Premiers of New South Wales while in office. Both Premiers Greiner and O'Farrell held Ku-ring-gai while in office. The other three electorates being Maroubra, Willoughby and Wollondilly.
As a result of a redistribution in 2021, Ku-ring-gai was abolished at the 2023 election, largely replaced by Wahroonga.[3]
Members for Ku-ring-gai
edit| Member | Party | Period | |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Maddison [4] | Liberal | 1973–1980 | |
| Nick Greiner [5] | Liberal | 1980–1992 | |
| Stephen O'Doherty [6] | Liberal | 1992–1999 | |
| Barry O'Farrell [7] | Liberal | 1999–2015 | |
| Alister Henskens [8] | Liberal | 2015–2023 | |
Election results
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Alister Henskens | 29,369 | 60.27 | −2.27 | |
| Labor | Amanda Keeling | 8,891 | 18.25 | +1.88 | |
| Greens | Qiu Yue (Viki) Zhang | 6,315 | 12.96 | −2.83 | |
| Sustainable Australia | Mark Ferris | 1,636 | 3.36 | +3.36 | |
| Keep Sydney Open | Liam Blood | 1,466 | 3.01 | +3.01 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Mitchell Strahan | 1,053 | 2.16 | +2.16 | |
| Total formal votes | 48,730 | 97.79 | +0.18 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,101 | 2.21 | −0.18 | ||
| Turnout | 49,831 | 91.53 | −1.22 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Alister Henskens | 31,027 | 70.52 | −2.46 | |
| Labor | Amanda Keeling | 12,969 | 29.48 | +2.46 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | −2.46 | |||
References
edit- ^ "Ku-ring-gai". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
- ^ "(A bit late but a) Post-2016 Federal Election Pendulum plus Results Summary". ABC News. 3 April 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
- ^ "Redistribution of electoral districts 2021" (PDF). NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
- ^ "The Hon. John Clarkson Maddison (1921–1982)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ "Mr (Nick) Nicholas Frank Hugo Greiner". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
- ^ "Mr Stephen Mark O'Doherty (1959– )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
- ^ "The Hon. Barry Robert O'Farrell". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^ "Mr Alister Andrew Henskens, SC MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ "Ku-ring-gai: First Preference Votes". 2019 NSW election results. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
- ^ "Ku-ring-gai: Distribution of Preferences". 2019 NSW election results. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 January 2022.