Ku-ring-gai

Margin: Liberal 36.9%
Region: Northern Sydney
Federal: Berowra (47%)/Bennelong (46%)/Mitchell (6%)

Outgoing member: Barry O’Farrell (Liberal)

Candidates in ballot paper order

	LEN GERVAY No Land Tax JOHN ARCHER Christian Democratic Party ALISTER HENSKENS Liberal (top) DAVID ARMSTRONG Labor (bottom) PIPPA McINNES Greens

To be vacated at the coming election by Barry O’Farrell, the blue-ribbon Liberal seat of Ku-ring-gai is an elongated south-to-north electorate bounded to the east by the North Shore Railway and Cowan Creek, and to the west by Lane Cove River. Suburbs in between include West Killara in the south, Pymble in the centre and Turramurra in the north. The redistribution has transferred the southern tip of the electorate to its eastern neighbour Davidson, accounting for 4750 voters around Lindfield, while adding 6500 further to the north from Davidson, in parts of Pymble and Turramurra.

Ku-ring-gai has been safe for the Liberals since its creation in 1973, and has been held by O’Farrell since 1999. O’Farrell became the member after a redistribution abolished his existing seat of Northcott, which he had held since 1994. The 1999 redistribution also caused most of the voters in the existing electorate of Ku-ring-gai to be transferred to the new seat of Hornsby, while Ku-ring-gai absorbed about half of the voters of abolished Gordon. Hornsby was accordingly contested by the member for Ku-ring-gai, Stephen O’Doherty, while the member for Gordon, Jeremy Kinross, was squeezed out.

O’Farrell attained the Liberal leadership after the 2007 election defeat, and led the party to a crushing victory in 2011. His premiership was unexpectedly cut short in April 2014, after he denied to the Independent Commission Against Corruption having received and failed to declare a $3,000 bottle of Grange Hermitage wine from Nick di Girolamo, who as chief executive of Australian Water Holdings was a focal point of ICAC inquiries. A hand-written thank-you note to di Girolamo appeared to give lie to O’Farrell’s claim, and he announced his resignation the following day, pleading a “massive memory fail”.

The new Liberal candidate for Ku-ring-gai is Alister Henskens, a barrister who recently represented Terrigal MP Chris Hartcher at the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Henskens prevailed in a February preselection ballot over a crowded field that included Carolyn Cameron, a corporate executive backed by O’Farrell, and Jason Morrison, a former talk radio presenter and more recently media adviser to Gina Rinehart. Henskens defeated Cameron at the final round by 50 votes to 40.

Corrections, complaints and feedback to William Bowe at pollbludger-at-bigpond-dot-com. Read William’s blog, The Poll Bludger.

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