| Watson AustralianHouse of RepresentativesDivision | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the2025 federal election | |||||||||||||||
| Created | 1992 | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Tony Burke | ||||||||||||||
| Party | Labor | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Chris Watson | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 116,745 (2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 51 km2 (19.7 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Inner metropolitan | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
| Footnotes | |||||||||||||||
| [1] | |||||||||||||||
TheDivision of Watson is anAustralian electoral division in thestate ofNew South Wales.
Watson is anurban electorate in Sydney and since 2025, it extends from theHume Highway,Canterbury Road to the south,Georges River to the west andCooks River to the east.[2] It has a largeimmigrant population, with significantChinese,Bangladeshi, andLebanese communities.[3]
Since2004 itsMP has beenTony Burke of theLabor Party, who has served as Minister for Home Affairs, for Immigration and Citizenship and for Cyber Security since 2024 under Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese, as well as Leader of the House and Minister for the Arts since 2022.
The division was created at the redistribution of 31 January 1992, to replace the abolishedDivision of St George and is named after the Right HonourableChris Watson, the firstLaborPrime Minister of Australia. It was first contested at the1993 federal election. There was previously anotherDivision of Watson (1934-69), originally Chris Watson's old seat ofSouth Sydney and located in the south-eastern suburbs of Sydney, however that Division is not connected to this one except in name. In the 2009 redistribution, the boundaries of Watson moved significantly northwest, losing the south-eastern suburbs in the St George area such as Hurstville, retaining the south-western suburbs such as Belmore, and adding a significant part of the Inner West.
While St George was a marginal seat, Watson has been a safe Labor seat for nearly all of its existence. The only time Labor's hold was seriously threatened was in2013, when Labor was held to 56 percent of the two-party vote.
It was previously held byLeo McLeay, a formerSpeaker of the Australian House of Representatives. The current Member for Watson, since the2004 federal election, isTony Burke, a member of theAustralian Labor Party.
In 2017, the division had the second-highest percentage of "No" responses in the 2017Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 69.64% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No".[4] The Survey had strong opposition fromMuslim voters in the electorate.[5][6]
Watson is adiverse andsocially conservative electorate[5] which is historicallyworking-class.[6] Despite being a stronghold for thecentre-leftLabor Party, many voters in Watson maintain socially-conservative values from theirimmigrant cultures.[6] According to the2016 census, only 44.4% of electors were born in Australia.[3]
At 23.4%, Watson has one of the highestIslamic populations of any electorate in Australia,[3] more than 20 times the national average.[6]
The division is located in the south-western suburbs ofSydney. Since the 2024 redistribution, the division includes the suburbs ofBankstown,Bankstown Aerodrome,Belfield,Chullora,Condell Park,Georges Hall,Greenacre,Lakemba,Lansdowne,Mount Lewis,Strathfield South,Wiley Park; as well as parts ofBass Hill,Belmore,Campsie,Canterbury,Punchbowl andYagoona.[7][8]
Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are determined atredistributions 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.[9]
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Leo McLeay (1945–) | Labor | 13 March 1993 – 31 August 2004 | Previously held the Division ofGrayndler. Served asChief Government Whip in the House underKeating. Retired | |
 | Tony Burke (1969–) | 9 October 2004 – present | Previously a member of theNew South Wales Legislative Council. Served as minister underRudd andGillard. Incumbent. Currently a minister underAlbanese | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Tony Burke | 39,763 | 48.00 | −6.11 | |
| Liberal | Zakir Alam | 12,585 | 15.19 | −11.23 | |
| Independent | Ziad Basyouny | 12,209 | 14.74 | +14.74 | |
| Greens | Jocelyn Brewer | 7,399 | 8.93 | +1.82 | |
| Libertarian | Vanessa Hadchiti | 3,559 | 4.30 | +4.30 | |
| One Nation | Elisha Trevena | 2,674 | 3.23 | −2.06 | |
| Trumpet of Patriots | John Koukoulis | 2,162 | 2.61 | +2.61 | |
| Family First | John Mannah | 1,428 | 1.72 | +1.72 | |
| Independent | Zain Khan | 1,055 | 1.27 | +1.27 | |
| Total formal votes | 82,834 | 82.99 | −6.38 | ||
| Informal votes | 16,983 | 17.01 | +6.38 | ||
| Turnout | 99,817 | 85.73 | +2.41 | ||
| Notionaltwo-party-preferred count | |||||
| Labor | Tony Burke | 60,352 | 72.86 | +7.70 | |
| Liberal | Zakir Alam | 22,482 | 27.14 | −7.70 | |
| Two-candidate-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Tony Burke | 55,099 | 66.52 | +1.36 | |
| Independent | Ziad Basyouny | 27,735 | 33.48 | +33.48 | |
| Laborhold | Swing | +1.36 | |||
33°54′29″S151°04′37″E / 33.908°S 151.077°E /-33.908; 151.077