THE POLL BLUDGER
New South Wales Legislative Assembly Election 2007

WOLLONDILLY
Labor 4.6%

Wollondilly is a new electorate that includes the southern part of the south-western satellite city of Campbelltown, along with Hume Highway towns as far south as Bargo. It also extends west through the hinterland areas of Warragamba and Picton and the national park territory around Lake Burragorang. Its voters have been taken in equal measure from Camden (Warragamba south to Mount Hunter and part of Campbelltown) and abolished Southern Highlands (from Oakdale south to Bargo, plus the national park area), with a further 5000 coming from Campbelltown in the urban east. Labor's strength is in the Campbelltown suburbs, which provide about 40 per cent of the voters; their primary vote here was about 60 per cent in 2003, whereas they finished slightly behind the Liberals in most booths from less populous areas. There was previously an electorate of Wollondilly from 1904 to 1981, which only fell to Labor with the "Wranslide" of 1978. Its members included two conservative Premiers, George Fuller (1922 to 1925) and Tom Lewis (1975 to 1976). It was Lewis who lost the seat at the 1978 election, which also saw the defeat of incumbent Liberal leader Peter Coleman in Fuller.

The Liberal candidate is local real estate agent Sharryn Hilton (right), who owes her preselection to Peter Debnam's insistence that nominations be re-opened after the numbers were initially secured by Jai Rowell, an adviser to Right faction upper house MP Charlie Lynn. Earlier contestants included local independent Phil Costa (left), who expressed concern that deputy mayor Judy Hannan's bid had been rolled by the Right. Imre Salusinszky of The Australian reported that Costa had also been encouraged to run as an independent by Pittwater MP Alex McTaggart. In October, Hannan told the Macarthur Chronicle she was only "90 per cent sure" she would not do so herself. Labor artfully reacted to the commotion by itself poaching Costa, who joined the party just weeks after being re-elected mayor by his fellow councillors. They responded by passing a no-confidence motion against him, limiting his capacity to speak on the council's behalf.

ASSESSMENT: LIBERAL GAIN