View source for Division of Werriwa

{{Short description|Australian federal electoral division}}
{{Redirect|Werriwa|the lake|Lake George (New South Wales)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2015}}
{{Infobox Australian electorate
| federal   = yes
| name      = Werriwa
| image     = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=Australian Federal Electorates/New South Wales (2025)/Werriwa.map|zoom=11|frame-longitude=150.82|frame-latitude=-33.93|frame-height=300|frame-width=400|overlay-horizontal-alignment=right|overlay-vertical-alignment=bottom|overlay=[[File:Division of Werriwa 2025.svg|x100px]]}}
| caption   = Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the [[2025 Australian federal election|2025 federal election]]
| created   = 1901
| mp        = [[Anne Stanley (politician)|Anne Stanley]]
| mp-party  = [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| namesake  = [[Lake George (New South Wales)|Lake George]] ([[Indigenous languages of Australia|Aboriginal name]])
| electors  = 117827
| electors_year= [[2025 Australian federal election|2025]]
| electors_footnotes= 
| area      = 111
| class     = Outer metropolitan
|near-n = [[Division of McMahon|McMahon]]
|near-ne = [[Division of Fowler|Fowler]]
|near-nw = [[Division of Lindsay|Lindsay]]
|near-e = [[Division of Fowler|Fowler]]
|near-w = [[Division of Hume|Hume]]
|near-s = [[Division of Macarthur|Macarthur]]
|near-se = [[Division of Hughes|Hughes]]
|near-sw = [[Division of Hume|Hume]]
|footnotes = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aec.gov.au/redistributions/2023/nsw/final-report/files/maps-a4/2024-aec-nsw-a4-map-werriwa_FINAL.pdf |title=MAP OF COMMONWEALTH ELECTORAL DIVISION OF WERRIWA |date=October 2024 |access-date=2025-03-19 |publisher=[[Australian Electoral Commission|AEC]]}}</ref>
}}
The '''Division of Werriwa''' is an [[Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives|Australian electoral division]] in the [[States and territories of Australia|state]] of [[New South Wales]]. The name Werriwa derives from a local [[Indigenous languages of Australia|Aboriginal name]] for [[Lake George (New South Wales)|Lake George]], which was located in the division when it was established in 1900. The division was one of the [[List of Australian electorates contested at every election|original 65 divisions]] first contested at the [[1901 Australian federal election|first federal election]].

Werriwa now covers an area in south-west Sydney.

The current Member for Werriwa, since the [[2016 Australian federal election|2016 federal election]], is [[Anne Stanley (politician)|Anne Stanley]], a member of the [[Australian Labor Party]].

==Geography==
The division is located in the southwestern Sydney in parts of the local government areas of [[City of Liverpool (New South Wales)|Liverpool]] and [[Fairfield City Council|Fairfield]], including the suburbs of [[Ashcroft, New South Wales|Ashcroft]], [[Austral, New South Wales|Austral]], [[Bonnyrigg Heights|Bonnyrigg Heights]], [[Busby, New South Wales|Busby]], [[Carnes Hill]], [[Cartwright, New South Wales|Cartwright]], [[Casula]], [[Cecil Hills]], [[Edmondson Park]], [[Green Valley, New South Wales|Green Valley]], [[Heckenberg]], [[Hinchinbrook, New South Wales|Hinchinbrook]], [[Horningsea Park, New South Wales|Horningsea Park]], [[Hoxton Park]], [[Lurnea, New South Wales|Lurnea]], [[Middleton Grange, New South Wales|Middleton Grange]], [[Miller, New South Wales|Miller]], [[Prestons, New South Wales|Prestons]], [[Sadleir, New South Wales|Sadleir]], and [[West Hoxton, New South Wales|West Hoxton]]; as well as parts of [[Bonnyrigg, New South Wales|Bonnyrigg]], [[Glenfield, New South Wales|Glenfield]], [[Kemps Creek, New South Wales|Kemps Creek]], [[Mount Pritchard]], and [[Rossmore, New South Wales|Rossmore]].

==History==
[[File:Lake George, New South Wales.JPG|thumb|left|[[Lake George (New South Wales)|Lake George]], the [[Indigenous Australians|Aboriginal]] name of which is the division's namesake]]
Originally, Werriwa was a large and mostly rural electorate that stretched from south-west Sydney to the northern part of what is now the ACT, and included the [[Southern Highlands (New South Wales)|Southern Highlands]], [[Goulburn]], and part of the [[South Western Slopes|South West Slopes]]. In succeeding years, with demographic change and electoral redistributions, Werriwa began to shrink and, from 1913 onwards, no longer included Lake George.  It underwent several other major changes to its borders over the years.  The 1949 expansion of Parliament saw Werriwa lose most of its remaining rural territory to the newly created [[Division of Macarthur]] and move to approximately its current position in south-west Sydney, over {{convert|150|km}} away from Lake George.  However, it has retained the name of Werriwa, primarily as it is an original [[Federation of Australia|Federation]] electorate—the [[Australian Electoral Commission]]'s guidelines on electoral redistributions require it to preserve the names of original Federation electorates where possible.<ref>{{cite web|title=Guidelines for naming divisions|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/guidelines.htm|publisher=[[Australian Electoral Commission]]|date=20 July 2011|access-date=30 March 2013}}</ref>

It is a very safe seat for Labor, which has held it continuously since 1934 and for all but nine years since 1906.

Werriwa is best remembered for being the electorate of former [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] [[Gough Whitlam]], who held it from 1952 to 1978.  It was represented from 1994 to 2005 by one of Whitlam's former aides, [[Mark Latham]], the leader of the ALP and [[List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition|Leader of the Opposition]] from 2003 to 2005. In more recent times, [[2005 Werriwa by-election|a by-election]] in March 2005 resulted in Labor's [[Chris Hayes (politician)|Chris Hayes]] elected with over 55% of the vote, in a 16-candidate race which saw no other candidate poll above 8%.

== Demographics ==
Werriwa is a heavily [[working class]] electorate and is considered part of Labor's Western Sydney "Red Wall" (seats that are reliably safe for Labor).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Fuentes |first=Fred |date=2022-05-26 |title=Keneally's defeat in Fowler is just the tip of the iceberg. Labor's 'red wall' is crumbling |url=https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/keneallys-defeat-fowler-shows-labors-red-wall-crumbling |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Green Left |language=en}}</ref>

Werriwa is home to relatively large [[Immigration to Australia|immigrant]] communities. According to the {{CensusAU|2021}}, 68.3% of residents had both parents born outside of Australia.<ref name=":0">{{Census 2021 AUS |name=Werriwa |id=CED146 |access-date=1 July 2025 |quick=on}}</ref> 37.6% of people only speak [[Australian English|English]] at home.<ref name=":0" /> Other languages spoken at home include [[Arabic]] at 11.4%, [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]] at 6.4%, [[Hindi]] at 3.6%, [[Assyrian Neo-Aramaic]] at 2.5% and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] at 2.2%.<ref name=":0" />

==Members==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
! colspan=2| Image
! Member
! Party
! Term
! Notes
|-

|-
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan=2 | [[File:Alfred Conroy.jpg|100px]]
| rowspan=2 | [[Alfred Conroy]]<br />{{small|(1864–1920)}}
| [[Free Trade Party|Free Trade]]
| nowrap | [[1901 Australian federal election|29 March 1901]] –<br/>1906
| rowspan=2 | Lost seat
|-
| {{Australian party style|Free Trade}}|&nbsp;
| nowrap | [[Free Trade Party|Anti-Socialist]]
| nowrap | 1906 –<br/>[[1906 Australian federal election|12 December 1906]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:David Robert Hall.jpg|100px]] 
| [[David Hall (Australian politician)|David Hall]]<br />{{small|(1874–1945)}}
| rowspan="2" | [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1906 Australian federal election|12 December 1906]] –<br/>1 April 1912
| Previously held the [[New South Wales Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Gunnedah|Gunnedah]]. Resigned to become a member of the [[New South Wales Legislative Council]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Benjamin Bennett.jpg|100px]] 
| [[Benjamin Bennett (politician)|Benjamin Bennett]]<br />{{small|(1872–1939)}}
| nowrap | [[1912 Werriwa by-election|1 June 1912]] –<br/>[[1913 Australian federal election|23 April 1913]]
| Retired

|-
| {{Australian party style|Commonwealth Liberal}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Alfred Conroy.jpg|100px]]
| [[Alfred Conroy]]<br />{{small|(1864–1920)}}
| [[Liberal Party (Australia, 1909)|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[1913 Australian federal election|31 May 1913]] –<br/>[[1914 Australian federal election|5 September 1914]]
| Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan=3 | [[File:John Lynch (Australia).jpg|100px]]
| rowspan=3 | [[John Lynch (Australian politician)|John Lynch]]<br />{{small|(1862–1941)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1914 Australian federal election|5 September 1914]] –<br/>[[Australian Labor Party split of 1916|14 November 1916]]
| rowspan=3 | Lost seat
|-
| {{Australian party style|National Labor}}|&nbsp;
| nowrap | [[National Labor Party|National Labor]]
| nowrap | [[Australian Labor Party split of 1916|14 November 1916]] –<br/>17 February 1917
|-
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}}|&nbsp;
| nowrap | [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist]]
| nowrap | 17 February 1917 –<br/>[[1919 Australian federal election|13 December 1919]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan=2 | [[File:Bert Lazzarini 1928.jpg|100px]] 
| rowspan=2 | [[Bert Lazzarini]]<br />{{small|(1884–1952)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1919 Australian federal election|13 December 1919]] –<br/>[[Australian Labor Party split of 1931|27 March 1931]]
| rowspan=2 | Lost seat
|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor (NSW)}}|&nbsp;
| nowrap | [[Australian Labor Party (NSW)|Labor (NSW)]]
| nowrap | [[Australian Labor Party split of 1931|27 March 1931]] –<br/>[[1931 Australian federal election|19 December 1931]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Country}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Walter McNicoll.jpg|100px]]
| [[Walter McNicoll]]<br />{{small|(1877–1947)}}
| [[National Party of Australia|Country]]
| nowrap | [[1931 Australian federal election|19 December 1931]] –<br/>14 September 1934
| Resigned to become [[List of colonial administrators of New Guinea|Administrator of the Territory of New Guinea]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor (NSW)}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan=2 | [[File:Hubert Lazzarini.jpg|100px]] 
| rowspan=2 | [[Bert Lazzarini]]<br />{{small|(1884–1952)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party (NSW)|Labor (NSW)]]
| nowrap | [[1934 Australian federal election|15 September 1934]] –<br/>February 1936
| rowspan=2 | Served as minister under [[Curtin Government|Curtin]], [[Frank Forde|Forde]] and [[Chifley Government|Chifley]]. Died in office
|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| rowspan="7" | [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | February 1936 –<br/>1 October 1952

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Gough Whitlam at the Lodge 1974 (cropped).jpg|100px]] 
| [[Gough Whitlam]]<br />{{small|(1916–2014)}}
| nowrap | [[1952 Werriwa by-election|29 November 1952]] –<br/>31 July 1978
| Served as [[List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition|Opposition Leader]] from 1967 to 1972, and from 1975 to 1977. Served as [[Prime Minister of Australia|Prime Minister]] from [[Whitlam Government|1972 to]] [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis|1975]]. Resigned to retire from politics

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:John Charles Kerin.jpg|100px]] 
| [[John Kerin]]<br />{{small|(1937–2023)}}
| nowrap | [[1978 Werriwa by-election|23 September 1978]] –<br/>22 December 1993
| Previously held the Division of [[Division of Macarthur|Macarthur]]. Served as minister under [[Hawke Government|Hawke]] and [[Keating Government|Keating]]. Resigned to retire from politics

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Mark Latham 1.jpg|100px]] 
| [[Mark Latham]]<br />{{small|(1961–)}}
| nowrap | [[1994 Werriwa by-election|28 January 1994]] –<br/>21 January 2005
| Served as [[List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition|Opposition Leader]] from 2003 to 2005. Resigned to retire from politics. Later elected to the [[New South Wales Legislative Council]] in [[2019 New South Wales state election|2019]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Labor Placeholder.png|100px]] 
| [[Chris Hayes (politician)|Chris Hayes]]<br />{{small|(1955–)}}
| nowrap | [[2005 Werriwa by-election|19 March 2005]] –<br/>[[2010 Australian federal election|21 August 2010]]
| Transferred to the Division of [[Division of Fowler|Fowler]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Laurie Ferguson.jpg|100px]] 
| [[Laurie Ferguson]]<br />{{small|(1952–)}}
| nowrap | [[2010 Australian federal election|21 August 2010]] –<br/>[[2016 Australian federal election|9 May 2016]]
| Previously held the Division of [[Division of Reid|Reid]]. Retired

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}|&nbsp;
| [[File:Anne Stanley Brendon Viora 2016 (cropped).jpg|100px]] 
| [[Anne Stanley (politician)|Anne Stanley]]<br />{{small|(1961–)}}
| nowrap | [[2016 Australian federal election|2 July 2016]] –<br/>present
| Incumbent
|}

==Election results==
{{main|Electoral results for the Division of Werriwa}}
{{Excerpt|Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in New South Wales|section=Werriwa}}
{{Excerpt|Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in New South Wales|section=Werriwa}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/w/Werriwa.htm Division of Werriwa – Australian Electoral Commission]

{{Australian federal divisions of New South Wales}}

{{coord|-33.981|150.843|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Werriwa, Division of}}
[[Category:Electoral divisions of Australia]]
[[Category:Electoral divisions of Australia in New South Wales]]
[[Category:Constituencies established in 1901]]
[[Category:1901 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:Gough Whitlam]]