 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Division of Lowe" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Lowe AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |
|---|---|
 Division of Lowe (green) inNew South Wales prior to abolition | |
| Created | 1949 |
| Abolished | 2010 |
| Namesake | Robert Lowe |
| Electors | 87,153 |
| Area | 39 km2 (15.1 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan |
TheDivision of Lowe was anAustralian Electoral Division in thestate ofNew South Wales. It was located in the inner western suburbs ofSydney, on the south shore of theParramatta River. It included the suburbs ofDrummoyne,Five Dock,Croydon,Croydon Park,Burwood,Enfield,Homebush,Strathfield,Concord,Rhodes,Canada Bay,Cabarita,Abbotsford andMortlake.
The division was named after the Rt HonRobert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, a former Member of theNew South Wales Legislative Council, and formerHome Secretary of the United Kingdom. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the1949 federal election. It was first held bySir William McMahon, who retained the seat for over 32 years, until 1982. He wasprime minister from1971 to 1972.
Following the 2009 redistribution of NSW, the seat of Lowe was abolished for the2010 Australian federal election. Most of the area of Lowe, together with a small part of the seat of Reid to its west, were reconstituted as the newReid.[1][2]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Sir William McMahon (1908–1988) | Liberal | 10 December 1949 – 4 January 1982 | Served as minister underMenzies,Holt,McEwen andGorton. Served asPrime Minister from1971 to 1972. Resigned to retire from politics | |
 | Michael Maher (1936–2013) | Labor | 13 March 1982 – 11 July 1987 | Previously held theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly seat ofDrummoyne. Lost seat | |
 | Bob Woods (1947–) | Liberal | 11 July 1987 – 13 March 1993 | Lost seat. Later appointed to theSenate in 1994 | |
| Mary Easson (1955–) | Labor | 13 March 1993 – 2 March 1996 | Lost seat | |
| Paul Zammit (1941–) | Liberal | 2 March 1996 – 9 February 1998 | Previously held theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly seat ofStrathfield. Lost seat | |
| Independent | 9 February 1998 – 3 October 1998 | ||||
 | John Murphy (1950–) | Labor | 3 October 1998 – 21 August 2010 | Transferred to the Division ofReid after Lowe was abolished in 2010 | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | John Murphy | 38,766 | 49.27 | +6.23 | |
| Liberal | Jim Tsolakis | 31,518 | 40.06 | −2.90 | |
| Greens | Marc Rerceretnam | 6,774 | 8.61 | −0.07 | |
| Christian Democrats | Bill Shailer | 1,616 | 2.05 | +0.04 | |
| Total formal votes | 78,674 | 95.05 | +1.65 | ||
| Informal votes | 4,098 | 4.95 | −1.65 | ||
| Turnout | 82,772 | 94.97 | +1.56 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | John Murphy | 45,136 | 57.37 | +4.34 | |
| Liberal | Jim Tsolakis | 33,538 | 42.63 | −4.34 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +4.34 | |||