Created 1949 Electors 105,605 (2016) Founded 1949 Namesake Edward Grayndler | Demographic Inner Metropolitan Area 32 km² Elector 105,605 | |
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The Division of Grayndler is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Edward Grayndler (1867–1943), a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council from 1921 to 1934 and 1936 to 1943, and General Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union from 1912 to 1941.
At 32 square kilometres (12 sq mi), it is Australia's smallest electorate, located in the inner-southern Sydney metropolitan area, including parts of the inner-west. The electorate includes the suburbs of Balmain, Balmain East, Birchgrove, Dobroyd Point, Enmore, Haberfield, Leichhardt, Lewisham, Lilyfield, Petersham, Rodd Island, Rozelle, and Sydenham; as well as parts of Annandale, Ashfield, Camperdown, Canterbury, Cockatoo Island, Drummoyne, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Macdonaldtown, Marrickville, Newtown, Spectacle Island, St Peters, Stanmore and Summer Hill.
The current Member for Grayndler, since the 1996 federal election, is Anthony Albanese, a member of the Australian Labor Party.
History
The division was originally a solidly working-class area, although migration and gentrification have since radically changed its demography. Despite the demographic changes, it has been held by the Australian Labor Party for its entire existence; the Liberals have only once received 40 percent of the two-party vote. Grayndler also has a very high percentage of Australian Greens voters with 23 percent of the primary vote at the 2013 election. At the 2010 election, the two-party-preferred vote was between Labor and the Greens, one of only 3 in Australia (the others being Batman and the Greens held Melbourne).
Its most prominent members have been Fred Daly, who was a Cabinet minister in the Whitlam government, and Leo McLeay, who was Speaker of the House 1989–93. Daly was succeeded by Gough Whitlam's son, Tony Whitlam, who served only one term before the neighbouring Division of Lang was abolished, and lost preselection to that sitting member. According to the ABC, "When Graham Richardson resigned from the Ministry over the Marshall Islands affair before the 1993 election, left-wing power-broker Anthony Albanese organised for Jeannette McHugh to replace him in the Ministry. Being a Minister entitled her to a seat, and as her own seat of Phillip had been abolished, she moved to Grayndler, forcing Leo McLeay to move to the neighbouring seat of Watson. Having delivered the seat to the left, Albanese was rewarded with pre-selection in 1996, winning despite a high profile campaign by No Aircraft Noise," and is still the sitting member today.