NSW seat of Ballina. NSW Electoral CommissionVoting in the set of Ballina
The NSW electorate of Ballina encompasses both Ballina and Byron Shires. The area covers Yelgun to the north, Alstonville to the west and East Wardell to the south.
So far, the candidate line up for the March 23, 2023 election comprises incumbent Greens MP, Tamara Smith, first time Nationals candidate, Josh Booyens, and first time Labor candidate candidate, Andrew Broadley. Tamara Smith has been the Member for Ballina since 28 Mar 2015.
For generations (1988 – 2015), the Ballina seat was held by Nationals MP, Don Page. Page is now chair of The Regional Development Australia – Northern Rivers. Upon his retirement, Greens candidate Tamara Smith won the seat in 2015. The 2015 result saw Tamara became the first woman to hold the seat of Ballina and the first Greens MP in a regional seat in any Parliament of Australia.
In the 2019 NSW election, the Two Candidate Preferred (TCP) result saw Smith win against Nationals challenger, Ben Franklin. As a NSW upper house MLC, Franklin was parachuted into the seat to contest Smith, and campaigned hard with a war chest of funding and promises (called pork barrelling).
According to the NSW Electoral Commission (EC) Smith received 24,645, or 55.42 per cent of the vote against 19,824, or 44.58 over cent of the vote, after preferences were distributed. Preferences from Labor helped Smith retain office in the past two elections.
In 2019, Franklin gained more votes than Smith, with 18,550 (37.01 per cent) to Smith’s 15,895 (31.71 per cent). Other candidates in 2019 were James Wright (Keep Sydney Open Party), Cathy Blasonato (Animal Justice Party), Asren Pugh (Country Labor Party) and Lisa McDermott (Sustainable Australia, NSW).
According to the NSW Electoral Commission (EC), The Legislative Assembly (lower house) district of Ballina holds 57,399 electors.
For more information, visit https://elections.nsw.gov.au/District-profiles/Ball
