Parramatta AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision
Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election
Created	1901
MP	Andrew Charlton
Party	Labor
Namesake	Parramatta
Electors	117,535 (2025)
Area	66 km2 (25.5 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner metropolitan
Electorates around Parramatta: Greenway Mitchell Berowra McMahon Parramatta Bennelong McMahon Blaxland Reid

TheDivision of Parramatta is anAustralian electoral division in the state ofNew South Wales. It was created in 1900 and was one of theoriginal 65 divisions contested at thefirst federal election. It is based in the western suburbs ofSydney. The current member, since the2022 federal election, isAndrew Charlton, a member of theAustralian Labor Party.

Parramatta is a diverse electorate with largeimmigrant communities fromIndia andChina, and has a higher than average university education rate according to the2016 census.^[1] At the time of the2022 Australian federal election, 12% of Parramatta's population possessed Chinese ancestry.^[2]

Parramatta is based in the western suburbs ofSydney. Besides Parramatta, it includesCamellia,Carlingford,Constitution Hill,Dundas,Dundas Valley,Ermington,Harris Park,Mays Hill,North Parramatta,Oatlands,Pendle Hill,Rosehill,Rydalmere,Telopea,Wentworthville andWestmead; and parts ofClyde,Eastwood,Epping,Granville,Melrose Park,North Rocks,Northmead,Old Toongabbie,Seven Hills,South Wentworthville andToongabbie.

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by theAustralian 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.^[3]

Parramatta was created in 1900 and was one of theoriginal 65 divisions contested at thefirst federal election. It is named for the locality ofParramatta. The name Parramatta has been sourced to anAboriginal word for the area. TheDarug people had lived in the area for many generations, and regarded the area as a food bowl, rich in food from the river and forests. They called the area Baramada or Burramatta ("Parramatta") which means "the place where the eels lie down".^[4]

As originally created, it covered the outer northwestern suburbs of Sydney, though that city's dramatic growth made it an entirely urban seat afterWorld War II. For most of the first seven decades after Federation, it included a large amount of conservative-leaning territory that usually swamped Parramatta itself, which has historically been a working-class area. As a result, the seat was held by theLiberals and their predecessors for all but one term from Federation until 1977.

Aredistribution ahead of the1977 election split Parramatta almost in half. Most of the wealthier eastern half became the comfortably safe Liberal seat ofDundas. Most of the western half, including the bulk of the ParramattaLGA, became the core of a marginal Labor seat that retained the Parramatta name, as perAustralian Electoral Commission guidelines that require the names of original Federation electorates to be preserved where possible.^[5][6] However, the reconfigured Parramatta was anchored in traditionally pro-Labor territory in western Sydney. Parramatta's Liberal incumbent,Phillip Ruddock, opted to follow most of his base into Dundas, allowing his 1975 challenger,John Brown to become only the second Labor member ever to win Parramatta.

Since then, it has been located between Labor's traditional heartland of western Sydney and the traditional Liberal stronghold of theNorth Shore. As a result, whenever the seat is redistributed, a shift of a few kilometres to the west or east can radically alter its political landscape.^[7]

For example, the 2006 redistribution shifted Parramatta from marginally Labor tonotionally marginally Liberal (as defined by the Australian Electoral Commission). Nevertheless, as was widely expected^[8] at the2007 federal election, the incumbent Labor member,Julie Owens, held the seat ahead of Liberal candidate Colin Robinson, a member of the Electrical Trades Union,^[8] with an increased majority.

Owens was subsequently re-elected at the2010,2013,2016 elections, and2019. Owens' win in the seat in 2004 marked the third time that the Liberals and their predecessors had won government without winning Parramatta, preceded by Brown's wins in 1975 and1980.

Prominent members for Parramatta over the years have included(Sir) Joseph Cook, a formerPrime Minister;(Sir) Garfield Barwick andNigel Bowen, both of whom served asAttorney-General before moving to senior judicial position, Barwick asChief Justice of the High Court. Ruddock, a former Attorney-General andImmigration Minister also represented the seat (though he was the member forBerowra by then); as did Brown, a formerSports Minister.^[7]

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Sir Joseph Cook (1860–1947)	Free Trade	30 March 1901 – 1906	Previously held theNew South Wales Legislative Assembly seat ofHartley. Served asOpposition Leader from 1908 to 1909, in 1913, and from 1914 to 1917. Served as minister underDeakin andHughes. Served asPrime Minister from1913 to 1914. Resigned to become theHigh Commissioner to the United Kingdom
			Anti-Socialist	1906 – 26 May 1909
			Liberal	26 May 1909 – 17 February 1917
			Nationalist	17 February 1917 – 11 November 1921
		Herbert Pratten (1865–1928)		10 December 1921 – 16 December 1922	Previously a member of theSenate. Transferred to the Division ofMartin
		Eric Bowden (1871–1931)		16 December 1922 – 12 October 1929	Previously held the Division ofNepean. Served as minister underBruce. Lost seat
		Albert Rowe (1872–1955)	Labor	12 October 1929 – 19 December 1931	Lost seat
		Sir Frederick Stewart (1884–1961)	United Australia	19 December 1931 – 21 February 1945	Served as minister underLyons,Menzies andFadden. Retired
			Liberal	21 February 1945 – 16 August 1946
		Howard Beale (1898–1983)		28 September 1946 – 10 February 1958	Served as minister underMenzies. Resigned to become theAustralian Ambassador to the United States
		Sir Garfield Barwick (1903–1997)		8 March 1958 – 24 April 1964	Served as minister underMenzies. Resigned to becomeChief Justice of theHigh Court
		Nigel Bowen (1911–1994)		20 June 1964 – 11 July 1973	Served as minister underHolt,McEwen,Gorton andMcMahon. Resigned to become aJudge of theSupreme Court of New South Wales
		Philip Ruddock (1943–)		22 September 1973 – 10 December 1977	Transferred to the Division ofDundas
		John Brown (1931–)	Labor	10 December 1977 – 19 February 1990	Served as minister underHawke. Retired
		Paul Elliott (1954–)		24 March 1990 – 2 March 1996	Lost seat
		Ross Cameron (1965–)	Liberal	2 March 1996 – 9 October 2004	Lost seat
		Julie Owens (1958–)	Labor	9 October 2004 – 11 April 2022	Retired
		Andrew Charlton (1978–)		21 May 2022 – present	Incumbent

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

2022 Australian federal election: Parramatta^[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Andrew Charlton	34,258	40.66	−4.42
	Liberal	Maria Kovacic	29,492	35.00	−6.28
	Greens	Phil Bradley	7,546	8.96	+1.72
	United Australia	Julian Fayad	4,269	5.07	+2.49
	Independent OLC	Steve Christou	2,982	3.54	+3.54
	Animal Justice	Rohan Laxmanalal	2,397	2.84	+2.84
	One Nation	Heather Freeman	2,011	2.39	+2.39
	Liberal Democrats	Liza Tazewell	1,310	1.55	+1.55
Total formal votes			84,265	91.07	−0.56
Informal votes			8,259	8.93	+0.56
Turnout			92,524	87.73	−1.88
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Andrew Charlton	45,980	54.57	+1.07
	Liberal	Maria Kovacic	38,285	45.43	−1.07
	Laborhold		Swing	+1.07

• Division of Parramatta – Australian Electoral Commission

33°48′32″S151°00′40″E / 33.809°S 151.011°E /-33.809; 151.011

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