Division of Greenway

Greenway Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Greenway in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election
Created	1984
MP	Michelle Rowland
Party	Labor
Namesake	Francis Greenway
Electors	119,941 (2022)
Area	81 km2 (31.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Outer metropolitan

The Division of Greenway is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

Greenway includes the Blacktown City Council in Sydney's west and northwestern suburbs.

Greenway is a relatively diverse electorate, with a large Indian community and smaller immigrant communities of Filipino and Sri Lankan ancestry. According to the 2016 census, only 54.5% of electors were born in Australia, while 11% were born in India.

History

Francis Greenway, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1984 and is named for Francis Greenway, an ex-convict who became a prominent architect in colonial Sydney. For most of its history, Greenway was a safe seat for Labor. However, demographic changes in the areas north of Blacktown, specifically Kellyville Ridge, Stanhope Gardens and Glenwood, resulted in a shift away from Labor at the 2001 election. At the 2004 election this trend continued and the seat was won by the Liberal Party following the retirement of the sitting member, Frank Mossfield and an extensive Liberal campaign. Louise Markus, a Pentecostal social worker and member of Hillsong Church, defeated Ed Husic, a former political adviser and a non-practising Muslim, to take the seat by a small margin of 0.6%. A large informal vote of 11.83%, the highest in the 2004 election, contributed to the closeness of this result, the vast majority indicating a first preference for Louise Markus.

A redistribution of the seat ahead of the 2007 federal election resulted in the Hawkesbury area towns, a strongly conservative area, moving to Greenway from the Division of Macquarie, and the loss of traditional Labor-voting areas such as Blacktown, Dean Park, Lalor Park and Seven Hills as well as the Liberal-leaning areas of Kings Langley and Seven Hills North. This boosted the notional Liberal majority to 11.7%, making it on paper a safe Liberal seat. However, at the 2007 federal election, Markus suffered a 6.9% swing, turning Greenway into a marginal Liberal seat.

The seat was redistributed again in 2009, essentially restoring the pre-2007 boundaries and demographics. Under redistribution, most of the Hawkesbury region, including Richmond and Windsor, were shifted back to Macquarie. In return, it regained the Labor voting suburbs of Blacktown, Toongabbie, Seven Hills and Pendle Hill. Following the redistribution, the seat was notionally Labor held on a margin of 5%. Michelle Rowland duly won the seat for Labor in 2010, and has held the seat since.

The division is a demographically diverse population that includes the working class suburbs of Blacktown, Seven Hills, Lalor Park, Schofields, Riverstone and Toongabbie which are Labor leaning, as well as the high income, Liberal leaning suburbs of Kellyville Ridge, Stanhope Gardens, Glenwood, The Ponds and Kings Langley.

Boundaries

Volunteer-run sausage sizzle fundraiser at Metella Road Public School in Toongabbie at the 2016 election

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.

The division is located in the west and north-west suburbs of Sydney, traditionally been north and east portions of the Blacktown district. It currently also includes small portions of the former Holroyd Council, amalgamated into Cumberland City Council; and Parramatta Council areas. Suburbs and towns include Acacia Gardens, Girraween, Glenwood, Kellyville Ridge, Kings Langley, Kings Park, Lalor Park, Parklea, Seven Hills, Stanhope Gardens, and The Ponds; as well as parts of Blacktown, Pendle Hill, Prospect, Quakers Hill, Riverstone, Rouse Hill, Schofields, Toongabbie, and Vineyard.

Members

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Russ Gorman (1926–2017)	Labor	1 December 1984 – 29 January 1996	Previously held the Division of Chifley. Retired. Last veteran of the Second World War to serve in the House of Representatives
		Frank Mossfield (1935–)		2 March 1996 – 31 August 2004	Retired
		Louise Markus (1958–)	Liberal	9 October 2004 – 21 August 2010	Transferred to the Division of Macquarie
		Michelle Rowland (1971–)	Labor	21 August 2010 – present	Incumbent. Currently a minister under Albanese

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Greenway

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in New South Wales § Greenway.[edit]

2022 Australian federal election: Greenway

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Michelle Rowland	48,551	48.29	+2.32
	Liberal	Pradeep Pathi	29,932	29.77	−10.81
	Greens	Damien Atkins	7,086	7.05	+1.55
	United Australia	Mark Rex	4,359	4.34	+1.35
	Australia One	Riccardo Bosi	3,272	3.25	+3.25
	Liberal Democrats	Adam Kachwalla	3,014	3.00	+3.00
	One Nation	Rick Turner	2,710	2.70	+2.70
	Independent	Love Nanda	1,615	1.61	+1.61
Total formal votes			100,539	91.78	−1.46
Informal votes			8,999	8.22	+1.46
Turnout			109,538	91.38	−1.49
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Michelle Rowland	61,864	61.53	+8.73
	Liberal	Pradeep Pathi	38,675	38.47	−8.73
	Labor hold		Swing	+8.73

Primary vote results in Greenway (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)

  Labor

  Liberal

  Greens

  Christian Democrats/Call to Australia

  Australian Democrats

  One Nation

  Independent

Primary vote results in Greenway (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)

External links

• Division of Greenway – Australian Electoral Commission