Balmain is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is in Sydney's Inner West, just west of the district of Sydney.
Since 2023 the member for Balmain has been Kobi Shetty of the Greens. Following the 2023 state election Balmain is one of three seats held by the Greens.
Geography On its current boundaries, Balmain includes the suburbs and localities of Annandale, Balmain, Balmain East, Birchgrove, Forest Lodge, Glebe, Glebe Island, Leichhardt, Lilyfield, Rozelle, White Bay and parts of Camperdown and Ultimo.
History Balmain was established in 1880 and from 1882, it elected two members, from 1885 it elected three members and from 1889 until 1894 it elected four members simultaneously. Voters cast a vote for each vacancy and the leading candidates were elected. In 1894 it was split into Balmain North, Balmain South, Annandale and Leichhardt, each electing one member. In 1904 with the downsizing of the Assembly after Federation, Balmain North and part of Balmain South were combined into a single electorate, electing one member. In 1920, parts of the electoral districts of Balmain, Annandale, Camperdown, Darling Harbour, Glebe and Rozelle were combined to create a new incarnation of Balmain, which elected five members by proportional representation. This was replaced by single member electorates of Balmain, Annandale, Glebe and Rozelle for the 1927 election. Balmain was abolished in 1991, being replaced by Port Jackson. It was recreated for the 2007 election, taking in large parts of the abolished district of Port Jackson (the Sydney CBD and Pyrmont, which were previously in Port Jackson, became part of the new Electoral district of Sydney).
Historically, Balmain has been a working-class seat and very safe for —at the 1978 election, Labor won an 84.2 percent two-party vote. However, as with several inner-city seats, demographic change and the rise of the has seen a strong Green vote in Balmain since the party first contested the seat from the seat's recreation at the 2007 election. Following the 2019 election, it is considered a safe Greens seat. Following the 2023 New South Wales state election, the seat became a marginal Greens seat following the retirement of Jamie Parker.
Members for Balmain First incarnation (1880–1894) 1880–1882, 1 member Member Party Term Jacob Garrard None 1880–1882 1882–1885, 2 members Member Party Term Member Party Term Jacob Garrard None 1882–1885 William Hutchinson None 1882–1885 1885–1889, 3 members Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term Jacob Garrard None 1885–1887 Solomon Hyam None 1885–1887 John Hawthorne None 1885–1887 1887–1889 Frank Smith 1887–1889 1887–1889 1889–1894, 4 members Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term Jacob Garrard 1889–1891 Frank Smith 1889–1891 John Hawthorne 1889–1891 George Clubb 1889–1891 George Clark 1891–1891 Edward Darnley1891–1894 James Johnston1891–1894 William Murphy1891–1894 1891–1894 Second incarnation (1904–1991) 1904–1920, 1 member Member Party Term Walter Anderson 1904–1907 John Storey 1907–1920 1920–1927, 5 members Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term John Storey 1920–1921 John Doyle1920–1922 Robert Stuart-Robertson1920–1927 John Quirk1920–1927 Albert Smith1920–1922 Tom Keegan1921–1927 Robert Stopford 1922–1925 Albert Lane1922–1927 H. V. Evatt 1925–1927 1927–1991, 1 member Member Party Term H. V. Evatt 1927–1930 John Quirk 1930–1938 Mary Quirk 1939–1940 1940–1941 1941–1950 1950–1950 John McMahon 1950–1968 Roger Degen 1968–1984 Peter Crawford 1984–1988 Dawn Fraser 1988–1991 Third incarnation (2007–present, 1 member) Member Party Term Verity Firth 2007–2011 Jamie Parker 2011–2023 Kobi Shetty 2023–present
Election results
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References