Division of Throsby

"Throsby" redirects here. For other uses, see Throsby (disambiguation).

Throsby Australian House of Representatives Division
300px Division of Throsby (green) in New South Wales
Created	1984
Abolished	2016
Namesake	Charles Throsby
Electors	98,415 (2013)
Area	1,422 km2 (549.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Throsby was an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was named after Charles Throsby, a prominent pioneer and explorer in the early nineteenth century of the areas to the south of Sydney.

Located in the Illawarra, the division covered eastern Wingecarribee Shire, extending from Exeter, Lake Yarrunga and Upper Kangaroo Valley in the south to Aylmerton, Alpine, the Avon Dam, Lake Avon, Dombarton, and Kembla Grange in the north to the Pacific Ocean in the east at Port Kembla, including the northern part of the City of Shellharbour and the southern portion of the adjacent City of Wollongong. It includes Albion Park, Berkeley, Berrima, Blackbutt, Bowral, Cringila, Dapto, Exeter, Fitzroy Falls, Horsley, Kembla Grange, Lake Illawarra, Mittagong, Moss Vale, Oak Flats, Port Kembla, Robertson, Warrawong, Welby, Willow Vale, and parts of Warilla.

The Division of Throsby was created in a redistribution in 1984 and had been represented by Labor since its inception. The Illawarra is one of the few non-metropolitan regions where Labor consistently does well. The area has a strong working-class character due to the presence of industries such as steelmaking, coal mining and stevedoring.

Renaming to Whitlam

In honour of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, the Australian Electoral Commission announced in 2015 that it would rename the Division of Throsby as the Division of Whitlam, to take effect at the 2016 federal election.

There were two formally lodged objections for renaming Throsby to Whitlam on the basis that the former Prime Minister's connection with the Illawarra area, particularly in the seat of Throsby, is limited to non-existent, and that it would be better suited to rename Whitlam's old parliamentary seat of Werriwa in his honour. One of the objections lodged by a Councillor of Wollongong Council stated the matter was "hotly debated in the Wollongong community since the announcement" and that council had voted against supporting the proposed change.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Colin Hollis	Labor	1984–2001
	Jennie George	Labor	2001–2010
	Stephen Jones	Labor	2010–2016

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Throsby

Australian federal election, 2013: Throsby

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Stephen Jones	37,980	45.00	−5.53
	Liberal	Larissa Mallinson	23,498	27.84	−2.47
	National	Gary Anderson	8,539	10.12	+4.80
	Greens	Peter Moran	4,613	5.47	−6.46
	Palmer United	May King	3,885	4.60	+4.60
	Independent	Paul Matters	1,948	2.31	+2.31
	Christian Democrats	John Kadwell	1,938	2.30	+2.30
	Bullet Train	Elrond Veness	677	0.80	+0.80
	Katter's Australian	Glenn Turner	473	0.56	+0.56
	Non-Custodial Parents	Wayne Hartman	435	0.52	−1.39
	Democratic Labour	Brian Boulton	407	0.48	+0.48
Total formal votes			84,393	91.17	−1.93
Informal votes			8,174	8.83	+1.93
Turnout			92,567	94.06	+0.43
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Stephen Jones	48,753	57.77	−4.34
	Liberal	Larissa Mallinson	35,640	42.23	+4.34
	Labor hold		Swing	−4.34

External links

• Division of Throsby, Australian Electoral Commission