# Electoral district of Balmain

Balmain is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly of the Australian state of New South Wales in Sydney's Inner West. It is currently represented by Kobi Shetty of 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 Labor—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 Greens 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 | Member | Party | Term |
| | Jacob Garrard | None | 1880–1882 |
| 1882–1885, 2 members ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | Jacob Garrard | None | 1882–1885 | | William Hutchinson | None | 1882–1885 |
| 1885–1889, 3 members ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | Jacob Garrard | None | 1885–1887 | | Solomon Hyam | None | 1885–1887 | | John Hawthorne | None | 1885–1887 |
| | Jacob Garrard | Free Trade | 1887–1889 | | Frank Smith | Free Trade | 1887–1889 | | John Hawthorne | Free Trade | 1887–1889 |
| 1889–1894, 4 members ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | Jacob Garrard | Free Trade | 1889–1891 | | Frank Smith | Free Trade | 1889–1891 | | John Hawthorne | Free Trade | 1889–1891 | | George Clubb | Free Trade | 1889–1891 |
| | George Clark | Labour | 1891–1891 | | Edward Darnley | Labour | 1891–1894 | | James Johnston | Labour | 1891–1894 | | William Murphy | Labour | 1891–1894 |
| | George Clark | Free Trade | 1891–1894 | | Edward Darnley | Labour | 1891–1894 | | James Johnston | Labour | 1891–1894 | | William Murphy | Labour | 1891–1894 |
| Second incarnation (1904–1991) ||||
| 1904–1920, 1 member ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | Walter Anderson | Liberal Reform | 1904–1907 |
| | John Storey | Labour | 1907–1920 |
| 1920–1927, 5 members ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | John Storey | Labor | 1920–1921 | | John Doyle | Labor | 1920–1922 | | Robert Stuart-Robertson | Labor | 1920–1927 | | John Quirk | Labor | 1920–1927 | | Albert Smith | Nationalist | 1920–1922 |
| | Tom Keegan | Labor | 1921 –1927 | | John Doyle | Labor | 1920–1922 | | Robert Stuart-Robertson | Labor | 1920–1927 | | John Quirk | Labor | 1920–1927 | | Albert Smith | Nationalist | 1920–1922 |
| | Tom Keegan | Labor | 1921 –1927 | | Robert Stopford | Nationalist | 1922–1925 | | Robert Stuart-Robertson | Labor | 1920–1927 | | John Quirk | Labor | 1920–1927 | | Albert Lane | Nationalist | 1922–1927 |
| | Tom Keegan | Labor | 1921 –1927 | | H. V. Evatt | Labor | 1925–1927 | | Robert Stuart-Robertson | Labor | 1920–1927 | | John Quirk | Labor | 1920–1927 | | Albert Lane | Nationalist | 1922–1927 |
| 1927–1991, 1 member ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | H. V. Evatt | Independent Labor | 1927–1930 |
| | John Quirk | Labor | 1930–1938 |
| | Mary Quirk | Labor | 1939–1940 |
| | Mary Quirk | Labor (N-C) | 1940–1941 |
| | Mary Quirk | Labor | 1941–1950 |
| | Mary Quirk | Independent Labor | 1950–1950 |
| | John McMahon | Labor | 1950–1968 |
| | Roger Degen | Labor | 1968–1984 |
| | Peter Crawford | Labor | 1984–1988 |
| | Dawn Fraser | Independent | 1988–1991 |
| Third incarnation (2007–present, 1 member) ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | Verity Firth | Labor | 2007–2011 |
| | Jamie Parker | Greens | 2011–2023 |
| | Kobi Shetty | Greens | 2023–present |

## Election results

2023 New South Wales state election: Balmain :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Greens | Kobi Shetty | 20,240 | 40.48 | −2.25 |
| | Labor | Philippa Scott | 18,555 | 37.11 | +8.25 |
| | Liberal | Freya Leach | 9,566 | 19.13 | −0.90 |
| | Sustainable Australia | Stephen Bisgrove | 1,189 | 2.38 | +0.84 |
| | Public Education | Glen Stelzer | 447 | 0.89 | +0.89 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 49,997 | 98.39 | −0.05 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 820 | 1.61 | +0.05 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 50,817 | 86.45 | −0.28 |
| Notional two-party-preferred count ||||||
| | Labor | Philippa Scott | 32,752 | 74.50 | +4.05 |
| | Liberal | Freya Leach | 11,208 | 25.50 | −4.05 |
| Two-candidate-preferred result ||||||
| | Greens | Kobi Shetty | 22,118 | 51.80 | −8.22 |
| | Labor | Philippa Scott | 20,580 | 48.20 | +8.22 |
| | Greens hold | Greens hold | Swing | −8.22 | |