Electorate Profile: Bradfield

On 25th August 2009 the former Leader of the Opposition and current Federal Member for Bradfield, Dr Brendan Nelson MP announced his intention to resign from  Parliament at the end of September.  This will prompt a by-election for the seat of Bradfield.

The date for the by-election is determined by the Speaker of the House of Representatives and would not formally be set until Dr Nelson submits his resignation.  Assuming Dr Nelson resigns as indicated at the end of September, it is most likely that the by-election will occur on a Saturday from the middle of November to early December.

It should be noted that the Parliament will be sitting in the weeks commencing 19 and 26 October and 16 and 23 November 2009.  The Government’s CPRS Legislation is due before Parliament in the November sittings.

The Prime Minister has indicated that the ALP will not run a candidate in the by-election.  This is not be unusual as Governments tend not to run candidates in seats that are safely held by the other side of politics such as in Bradfield.

Mr Turnbull has suggested that the principle issue on which he wishes to fight the by-election is the issue of debt.  In any event, by-elections are often largely fought on local issues.

The following, is a profile on the electorate of Bradfield in NSW.

Area and Location Description

Bradfield covers an area in the North Shore of Sydney of approximately 93 sq km (see map below).

Suburbs include Gordon, Killara, Lindfield, Pymble, St. Ives, Turramurra, Warrawee, West Pymble and parts of Asquith, Chatswood, Chatswood West, Hornsby, Middle Cove, Roseville and Wahroonga.

  • The median weekly family income in Bradfield is $2,180.  This is the third highest electorate in Australia in terms of income (Bradfield is ranked third behind North Sydney and Wentworth).
  • The median monthly housing loan repayment is $2,474 .  This is the third highest electorate in terms of mortgage repayments (ranked 3 in Australia behind Wentworth and North Sydney).
  • Median weekly rent in Bradfield is $339.  This is the fifth highest electorate in Australia.
  • Bradfield has the least number of persons of Indigenous origin in Australia (ranked 150 out of 150 in Australia).
  • 61.1% of the electorate participates in the labour force.
  • 55.8% of employed people in Bradfield work in professional or managerial occupations.
  • 19.8% of people travelling to work use public transport (ranked 12th in Australia).
  • About 4,219 people in the electorate do not speak English well or don’t speak English at all.
  • 23% of the electorate speak a language other than English at home.
  • 44% of couple families in the electorate have dependent children.
  • 53.4% of school children in the electorate attend a non-government infant/primary or secondary school.
  • 37.5% of people in Bradfield have university qualifications (ranked 3rd behind Kooyong and North Sydney electorates).
  • 79.4% of households in Bradfield have an internet connection, and 64.5% of these have broadband (ranked 1 in Australia).

Map of Division:

Map of Bradfield division

Products/Industries of the Area: Light manufacturing, service industries, Chatswood CBD and shopping centre, commercial businesses and government offices.

2007 Federal Election Results for Bradfield

First Preferences
Enrolment: 93,405   Turnout: 94.03%
Candidate Party

Votes

%

Swing (%)
BROOKMAN, Victoria Labor

22,509

26.69

+5.11
NELSON, BrendanElected Liberal

49,817

59.07

-3.41
GEMMELL, Susie The Greens

9,495

11.26

+0.01
TURNBULL, James Family First

759

0.90

-0.88
WISZNIEWSKI, Witold Christian Democratic Party
(Fred Nile Group)

1,466

1.74

+1.45
BUTLER, Robert H Citizens Electoral Council

285

0.34

+0.34
…… Australian Democrats

0

0.00

-2.40
…… Other

0

0.00

-0.23
FORMAL  

84,331

96.01

+0.53
INFORMAL  

3,501

3.99

-0.53
TOTAL  

87,832

94.03

+0.49

 

Two Candidate Preferred
Candidate Party

Votes

This Election (%)

Last Election (%)

Swing (%)
BROOKMAN, Victoria Labor

30,819

36.55

32.45

+4.10
NELSON, BrendanElected Liberal

53,512

63.45

67.55

-4.10

Bradfield First Preference Vote by Party (1949-2007) (Source ABC)

For further analysis of the electorate see: