The Division of Lowe was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was located in the inner western suburbs of Sydney, on the south shore of the Parramatta River. It included the suburbs of Drummoyne, Five Dock, Croydon, Croydon Park, Burwood, Enfield, Homebush, Strathfield, Concord, Rhodes, Canada Bay, Cabarita, Abbotsford and Mortlake.

The division was named after the Rt Hon Robert Lowe, 1st Viscount Sherbrooke, a former Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, and former Home Secretary of the United Kingdom. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 federal election. It was first held by Sir William McMahon, who retained the seat for over 32 years, until 1982. He was prime minister from 1971 to 1972.

Following the 2009 redistribution of NSW, the seat of Lowe was abolished for the 2010 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 new Reid.

Members

ImageMemberPartyTermNotes
Sir William McMahon (1908–1988)Liberal10 December 1949 – 4 January 1982Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen and Gorton. Served as Prime Minister from 1971 to 1972. Resigned to retire from politics
Michael Maher (1936–2013)Labor13 March 198211 July 1987Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Drummoyne. Lost seat
Bob Woods (1947–)Liberal11 July 198713 March 1993Lost seat. Later appointed to the Senate in 1994
Mary Easson (1955–)Labor13 March 19932 March 1996Lost seat
Paul Zammit (1941–)Liberal2 March 1996 – 9 February 1998Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Strathfield. Lost seat
Independent9 February 1998 – 3 October 1998
John Murphy (1950–)Labor3 October 199821 August 2010Transferred to the Division of Reid after Lowe was abolished in 2010

Election results

2007

2007 Australian federal election: Lowe
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
LaborJohn Murphy38,76649.27+6.23
LiberalJim Tsolakis31,51840.06−2.90
GreensMarc Rerceretnam6,7748.61−0.07
Christian DemocratsBill Shailer1,6162.05+0.04
Total formal votes78,67495.05+1.65
Informal votes4,0984.95−1.65
Turnout82,77294.97+1.56
Two-party-preferred result
LaborJohn Murphy45,13657.37+4.34
LiberalJim Tsolakis33,53842.63−4.34
Labor holdSwing+4.34

External links

  • (PDF). Australian Electoral Commission Divisional Profiles. (PDF, 184 kB)

33°30′S 151°00′E/33.500°S 151.000°E/ -33.500; 151.000