Member for Mackellar, NSW

The Mackellar electorate is a federal electoral area located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, stretching along the Tasman Sea coastline and extending inland to areas of bushland and semi-rural communities within the Northern Beaches Council. It includes coastal and residential suburbs such as Palm Beach, Avalon, Newport, Narrabeen, Mona Vale, Terrey Hills, and surrounding localities. The electorate is characterised by a combination of surf beaches, estuaries, national parks, and established suburban neighbourhoods, alongside limited commercial centres and transport corridors linking the area to the rest of metropolitan Sydney. As an outer-metropolitan electorate, Mackellar reflects a strong coastal lifestyle identity balanced with environmental conservation and residential development.

Established in the mid-twentieth century, the electorate is named in honour of Dorothea Mackellar, a celebrated Australian poet best known for her poem My Country, and also recognises her father, Sir Charles Mackellar, a noted medical practitioner and social reformer. Since its creation, Mackellar’s boundaries have remained focused on the Northern Beaches region, evolving through redistributions to reflect population change while retaining its coastal and bushland character. The electorate’s history is closely linked to the development of Sydney’s northern suburbs, transitioning from semi-isolated coastal settlements to well-established residential communities, while maintaining a strong emphasis on natural landscapes, heritage, and local amenity.