| Sydney AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1968 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Tanya Plibersek | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Sydney | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 127,495 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 45 km2 (17.4 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
TheDivision of Sydney is anAustralian electoral division in thestate ofNew South Wales. It is centred on and named after the city ofSydney, the state capital. The division encompassesSydney CBD and surrounding areas to the south and west, as well asLord Howe Island in theTasman Sea.
Since1998 itsMP has beenTanya Plibersek of theLabor Party.
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The division draws its name fromSydney, the most populous city in Australia, which itself was named after formerBritishHome SecretaryThomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 21 November 1968, replacing the oldDivision of Dalley,Division of East Sydney andDivision of West Sydney; it was first contested at the1969 election.
The seat is asafe seat for theAustralian Labor Party (ALP) which has never polled less than 60% of the two-party preferred vote at any election. In line with a national trend towards progressive inner-city voting, the seat had the highest number ofGreen votes in any federal electorate in2004, though by2013 it had dropped to seventh-highest. The current Member for the Division of Sydney, since the1998 federal election, isTanya Plibersek, a member of the ALP. Sydney is currently Labor's third safest seat, with 70.95% on the2CP against the Greens.
As at the 2001census, the electorate had the highest number ofsame-sex couples in Australia (2,265).[1]
The division is located around theCity of Sydney and includes many inner suburbs such asAlexandria,Balmain,Beaconsfield,Birchgrove,Broadway,Chippendale,Darlington,Erskineville,Forest Lodge,Glebe,Haymarket,Millers Point,Pyrmont,Redfern,Rosebery,The Rocks,Rozelle,Ultimo,Waterloo,Zetland and parts ofAnnandale,Camperdown,Lilyfield andNewtown in theInner West, as well asSurry Hills and parts ofDarlinghurst,Woolloomooloo andKings Cross in theEastern Suburbs.Lord Howe Island, in theTasman Sea and some 400 kilometres (250 mi) north-east of theSydney central business district, is included in the division; as are the harbour islands fromSpectacle Island to theSydney Heads, and all the waters ofPort Jackson, except forMiddle Harbour and North Harbour.[2]
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]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) | Jim Cope (1907–1999) | Labor | 25 October 1969 – 11 November 1975 | Previously held the Division ofWatson. Served asSpeaker during theWhitlam government. Retired | |
 | Les McMahon (1930–2015) | 13 December 1975 – 4 February 1983 | Lost preselection and retired | ||
 | Peter Baldwin (1951–) | 5 March 1983 – 31 August 1998 | Previously a member of theNew South Wales Legislative Council. Served as minister in theHawke andKeating governments. Retired | ||
 | Tanya Plibersek (1969–) | 3 October 1998 – present | Served as minister in theRudd andGillard governments. Incumbent. Currently anAlbanese government minister |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Tanya Plibersek | 59,153 | 55.15 | +4.10 | |
| Greens | Luc Velez | 23,162 | 21.60 | −1.12 | |
| Liberal | Alex Xu | 18,860 | 17.59 | −1.77 | |
| One Nation | Vedran Torbarac | 3,698 | 3.45 | +1.68 | |
| Socialist Alliance | Rachel Evans | 2,376 | 2.22 | +0.97 | |
| Total formal votes | 107,249 | 96.27 | −0.31 | ||
| Informal votes | 4,161 | 3.73 | +0.31 | ||
| Turnout | 111,410 | 87.42 | −2.46 | ||
| Notionaltwo-party-preferred count | |||||
| Labor | Tanya Plibersek | 83,737 | 78.08 | +2.42 | |
| Liberal | Alex Xu | 23,512 | 21.92 | −2.42 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Tanya Plibersek | 76,089 | 70.95 | +4.73 | |
| Greens | Luc Velez | 31,160 | 29.05 | −4.73 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +4.73 | |||
33°53′42″S151°12′00″E / 33.895°S 151.200°E /-33.895; 151.200