THE POLL BLUDGER
New South Wales Legislative Assembly Election 2007

CHARLESTOWN
Labor 13.3%

Charlestown covers the southern suburbs of Newcastle, from Kotara south to Bennetts Green and west to Lake Macquarie. Changes to the southern boundary with Swansea have added more than 6000 new voters at Eleebana and Tingira Heights on the shore of Lake Macquarie and removed 2500 at Redhead on the coast. A further 2000 voters at New Lambton Heights have been transferred to Wallsend in the north. The electorate was created in 1971 in place of the abolished Kahibah; the two have collectively been in Labor hands since the abolition of proportional representation in 1927, barring the brief reign of an "independent Labor" member in the early 1950s. The member from 1972 to 2003 was Richard Face, the former Gaming Minister who was convicted in December 2004 of making a false statement to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Face's retirement announcement less than four months before the March 2003 election was used as the pretext for a ballot under the party's contentious –N40" rule, which allows the Right-controlled administrative committee an equal say along with the local branches. The preselection pitted the favoured candidate of the Right, former Newcastle Knights player Mark Sargent, against the Left-backed Matthew Morris (right). Bob Carr had called for the nomination to go to a woman, having in mind Australian Meat Industry Employees Union secretary Kath Evans, but he was rebuffed by party powerbrokers. The administrative committee divided along factional lines 34-23 in Sargent's favour, but Morris decisively dominated the local branch vote to secure a narrow victory. This was a rare example of the head office failing to get its own way after instituting an N40 ballot.

Morris is a former parks and gardens officer and Lake Macquarie councillor, and the son and nephew of former federal MPs Peter and Allan Morris, who respectively held the seats of Shortland and Newcastle. Another Lake Macquarie councillor, Paul Scarfe, is running as an independent. Little is known about Liberal candidate Lindsay Paterson (left), except that he was endorsed six weeks out from polling day.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain