# Division of Barton

The Division of Barton is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

## History

The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir Edmund Barton, the first Prime Minister of Australia. For much of its history, Barton has been a marginal seat, held by the Australian Labor Party for most of the time after 1940, but won by the Liberals (or their predecessors) at "high-tide" elections.
Barton's most prominent member has been Dr H. V. Evatt, who was Leader of the Labor Party between 1951 and 1960. After seeing his majority more than halved in 1949, and nearly being defeated in 1951 and 1955, he transferred to the safe seat of Hunter in 1958. A former minister in the Hawke and Keating ministries, Gary Punch, held the seat for Labor between 1983 and 1996. Robert McClelland, Attorney-General in the Rudd and Gillard governments, held the seat for Labor between 1996 and 2013.
Nickolas Varvaris won the seat for the Liberals at the 2013 federal election, achieving a swing of 7.2 percent to finish with a two-party-preferred vote of just 50.3 percent, which made Barton the Coalition government's most marginal seat, but was defeated in 2016 by Labor’s former state deputy opposition leader Linda Burney, who has held the seat ever since.
The Division of Barton is linked to one of the more unusual episodes in Australian politics. The first member for Barton, Labor's Frederick McDonald, disappeared after his 1925 defeat by Nationalist Thomas Ley, and it is now believed that Ley had him murdered. After being found guilty of an unrelated murder in England in 1947, Ley was declared insane and died in Broadmoor Asylum four months later.

## Boundaries

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian 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.
The division has always been based in the inner southern suburbs of Sydney, and currently includes the suburbs of Arncliffe, Banksia, Bardwell Park, Bardwell Valley, Bexley, Bexley North, Brighton-Le-Sands, Clemton Park, Earlwood, Kyeemagh, Rockdale, Turrella, Undercliffe, and Wolli Creek; as well as parts of Belmore, Beverly Hills, Campsie, Canterbury, Carlton, Dulwich Hill, Hurlstone Park, Hurstville, Kingsgrove, Kogarah, Marrickville, and Penshurst.

## Demographics

2021 Australian census :
| Ancestry ||||
| Response | Barton | NSW | Australia |
| Chinese | 19.0% | 7.2% | 5.5% |
| Australian | 12.5% | 29.8% | 33.0% |
| Greek | 9.6% | 1.8% | 1.7% |
| Lebanese | 6.1% | 2.2% | 1.0% |
| Country of birth ||||
| Response | Barton | NSW | Australia |
| Australia | 45.8% | 65.4% | 66.9% |
| China | 9.7% | 3.1% | 2.2% |
| Nepal | 4.7% | 0.8% | 0.5% |
| Greece | 3.0% | 0.4% | 0.4% |
| Lebanon | 2.4% | 0.8% | 0.3% |
| Philippines | 2.0% | 1.3% | 1.2% |
| Religious affiliation ||||
| Response | Barton | NSW | Australia |
| No religion | 28.9% | 32.8% | 38.4% |
| Catholicism | 19.5% | 22.4% | 20.0% |
| Eastern Orthodoxy | 12.8% | 2.5% | 2.1% |
| Islam | 8.2% | 4.3% | 3.2% |
| Language spoken at home ||||
| English | 37.1% | 67.6% | 72.0% |
| Mandarin | 9.2% | 3.4% | 2.7% |
| Greek | 7.3% | 1.0% | 0.9% |
| Arabic | 6.8% | 2.8% | 1.4% |
| Cantonese | 6.0% | 1.8% | 1.2% |
| Nepali | 4.7% | 0.8% | 0.5% |

## Members

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| Frederick McDonald (1872–1926) | Labor | 16 December 1922 – 14 November 1925 | Lost seat |
| Thomas Ley (1880–1947) | Nationalist | 14 November 1925 – 17 November 1928 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of St George. Lost seat |
| James Tully (1877–1962) | Labor | 17 November 1928 – 19 December 1931 | Lost seat |
| Albert Lane (1873–1950) | United Australia | 19 December 1931 – 21 September 1940 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Balmain. Lost seat |
| Dr. H.V. Evatt (1894–1965) | Labor | 21 September 1940 – 22 November 1958 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Balmain. Served as minister under Curtin, Forde and Chifley. Served as deputy prime minister under Chifley. under Served as Opposition Leader from 1951 to 1960. Transferred to the Division of Hunter |
| Len Reynolds (1923–1980) | Labor | 22 November 1958 – 26 November 1966 | Lost seat |
| Bill Arthur (1918–1982) | Liberal | 26 November 1966 – 25 October 1969 | Lost seat |
| Len Reynolds (1923–1980) | Labor | 25 October 1969 – 11 November 1975 | Retired |
| Jim Bradfield (1933–1989) | Liberal | 13 December 1975 – 5 March 1983 | Lost seat |
| Gary Punch (1957–) | Labor | 5 March 1983 – 29 January 1996 | Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Retired |
| Robert McClelland (1958–) | Labor | 2 March 1996 – 5 August 2013 | Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired |
| Nickolas Varvaris (1974–) | Liberal | 7 September 2013 – 2 July 2016 | Lost seat |
| Linda Burney (1957–) | Labor | 2 July 2016 – present | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Canterbury. Incumbent. Currently a minister under Albanese |

## Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Barton :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Linda Burney | 46,206 | 50.43 | +1.24 |
| | Liberal | John Goody | 23,992 | 26.19 | −7.30 |
| | Greens | Taylor Vandijk | 11,441 | 12.49 | +3.46 |
| | United Australia | Dimitri Honos | 5,611 | 6.12 | +3.83 |
| | One Nation | Phillip Pollard | 4,373 | 4.77 | +1.11 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 91,623 | 92.52 | +2.05 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 7,405 | 7.48 | −2.05 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 99,028 | 89.72 | −1.46 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Labor | Linda Burney | 60,054 | 65.54 | +6.13 |
| | Liberal | John Goody | 31,569 | 34.46 | −6.13 |
| | Labor hold | Labor hold | Swing | +6.13 | |