THE POLL BLUDGER
New South Wales Legislative Assembly Election 2007

KEIRA
Labor 23.5%

Keira covers a short stretch of the Illawarra coast from Woonona south to Towradgi, extending inland south-westwards to Figtree and west through thinly populated territory to Lake Cordeaux. The redistribution has added a large inland area south of Lake Cordeaux and west of Mount Keira Road, respectively adding four (yes, four) voters from abolished Southern Highlands and 8700 around Figtree from Illawarra (which has been renamed Shellharbour). On the coast, 2500 new voters at Towradgi have been gained from Wollongong in the south, while 8500 voters in the northern coastal area of Bulli and Thirroul have been transferred to Heathcote. The electorate was created in 1988 in place of the abolished Corrimal, which had been held for Labor since its creation in 1968. Keira has had two Labor members – Col Markham until 1999, and David Armstrong thereafter. Markham switched to Wollongong after a factional deal gave Keira to the Right, in exchange for the Left abandoning its challenges in Kogarah and Canterbury. There followed a preselection vote in which David Campbell (right) defeated local party identity Craig Kershaw 128 votes to 71.

Campbell had earlier recovered the Wollongong lord mayoralty for Labor in 1991 from Frank Arkell, the former independent member for Wollongong who was charged with child sex offences and brutally murdered in 1998. He faced a strong independent challenge at the 1999 election from Wollongong councillor Dave Martin, who polled 27.0 per cent to take second place but finished 7.9 per cent short after preferences. The Greens took second place in 2003, polling 19.3 per cent to the Liberal candidate's 17.1 per cent. Campbell was promoted to the front bench after the 2003 election with the small business, regional development and Illawarra portfolios, but his support for Carl Scully's leadership bid when Bob Carr departed in August 2005 was thought at the time to have endangered his position. However, he retained his existing portfolios at the time and was reassigned to the important role of water utilities in February 2006, which had been hived off from the existing utilities portfolio.

ASSESSMENT: Labor retain