The Division of Cunningham is an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. The division was created in 1949 and is named for Allan Cunningham

Allan Cunningham (botanist)

Allan Cunningham was an English botanist and explorer, primarily known for his travels in New South Wales to collect plants.- Early life :...

, a 19th century explorer of New South Wales and Queensland

Queensland

Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...

. It is located on the coast of New South Wales between southern Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and Wollongong, and takes in parts of the city of Wollongong

Wollongong, New South Wales

Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...

, including Corrimal

Corrimal, New South Wales

Corrimal is a northern suburb of the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Corrimal's CBD is situated on the Princes Highway, and several streets adjacent to it. The main shopping centres are Stockland Corrimal and Corrimal Park Mall next to the park on the highway. Outside this centre is...

, Figtree

Figtree, New South Wales

Figtree is an inner western suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is southwest of West Wollongong and connected to Wollongong by the Princes Highway and The Avenue....

 and Unanderra

Unanderra, New South Wales

Unanderra is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately 10 km south-west of the Wollongong CBD. It is bordered to the west by Farmborough, Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights in the Mount Kembla foothills, the north by Figtree, the east by Berkeley...

. It also includes several suburbs on the southern outskirts of Sydney, such as Heathcote

Heathcote, New South Wales

Heathcote is a suburb, in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Heathcote is located 36 km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire....

 and Bundeena

Bundeena, New South Wales

Bundeena is a village on the outskirts of southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bundeena is located 29km south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the Sutherland Shire....

. It has always been won by the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

, except at the 2002 by-election

Cunningham by-election, 2002

The 2002 Cunningham by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Cunningham in New South Wales on 19 October 2002. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party's Stephen Martin on 16 August 2002...

 when it was lost to the Australian Greens

Australian Greens

The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...

, the first time that the Greens had held a seat in the House of Representatives. Labor recovered the seat at the October 2004 election. Its most prominent members have been Rex Connor

Rex Connor

Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor , Australian politician, was a minister in the Whitlam government and promoted government investment to support national development...

, a senior minister in the Whitlam

Gough Whitlam

Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...

 government, and Stephen Martin, who was Speaker

Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives

The Speaker of the House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Parliament of Australia. The presiding officer in the upper house is the President of the Senate....

 1993–96. The main products and means of livelihood in the area are tourism, tertiary education, steel production, coal mining, brick manufacturing, textiles and dairy farming.

Although the region is primarily rural, the vast majority of the population is located in the northern outskirts of Wollongong and along the eastern seaboard.

Geography

The Division covers areas east of the a ridge in the Great Dividing Range

Great Dividing Range

The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...

 and is bounded by the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 to the east. It is bounded to the north by the Royal National Park

Royal National Park

Royal National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, 29 km south of Sydney CBD.Founded by Sir John Robertson, Acting Premier of New South Wales, and formally proclaimed on 26 April 1879, it is the world's second oldest purposed national park, the first usage of the term...

 and to the south by the Wollongong suburbs of Figtree

Figtree, New South Wales

Figtree is an inner western suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is southwest of West Wollongong and connected to Wollongong by the Princes Highway and The Avenue....

, Cordeaux Heights

Cordeaux Heights, New South Wales

Cordeaux Heights is a suburb in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on the eastern foothills of Mount Kembla as is its southern neighbour Farmborough Heights. Its northern boundary of housing is along Cordeaux Road which goes to Mount Kembla Village...

 and Coniston

Coniston, New South Wales

Coniston is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales.Coniston has one public primary school, east of the railway, and its main street is Gladstone Avenue which is the business center of the suburb. The suburb has a beach, Coniston Beach, to the east of Wollongong Golf Course, and Coniston railway...

.

Members

Member		Party	Years
	Billy Davies	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1949 Australian federal election, 1949 Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced... –1956
	Victor Kearney Victor Kearney Victor Dennis Kearney was an Australian politician. Born in Armidale, New South Wales, he was educated there at De la Salle College. He became an organiser of the Australian Workers' Union and then secretary of the Canberra Trades and Labour Council...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1956–1963
	Rex Connor Rex Connor Reginald Francis Xavier "Rex" Connor , Australian politician, was a minister in the Whitlam government and promoted government investment to support national development...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1963–1977
	Stewart West Stewart West Stewart John West , Australian politician, was the Australian Labor Party member for the Division of Cunningham in New South Wales....	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1977–1993
	Stephen Martin	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1993–2002
	Michael Organ Michael Organ Michael Keith Organ is an Australian politician. He was an Australian Greens member of the Australian House of Representatives between 2002 and 2004, representing the Division of Cunningham, New South Wales...	Greens Australian Greens The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...	2002 Cunningham by-election, 2002 The 2002 Cunningham by-election was held in the Australian electorate of Cunningham in New South Wales on 19 October 2002. The by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting member, the Australian Labor Party's Stephen Martin on 16 August 2002... –2004
	Sharon Bird Sharon Bird Sharon Leah Bird is an Australian politician.She was elected to the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Cunningham, New South Wales, at the October 2004 election...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	2004–present

Election results