, the division's namesake The division was created at the redistribution of 31 January 1992, to replace the abolished
Division of St George and is named after the Right Honourable
Chris Watson, the first
Labor Prime Minister of Australia. It was first contested at the
1993 federal election. There was previously another
Division of Watson (1934-69), originally Chris Watson's old seat of
South Sydney and located in the south-eastern suburbs of Sydney, however that Division is not connected to this one except in name. In the 2009 redistribution, the boundaries of Watson moved significantly northwest, losing the south-eastern suburbs in the St George area such as Hurstville, retaining the south-western suburbs such as Belmore, and adding a significant part of the Inner West. While St George was a marginal seat, Watson has been a safe Labor seat for nearly all of its existence. The only time Labor's hold was seriously threatened was in
2013, when Labor was held to 56 percent of the two-party vote. It was previously held by
Leo McLeay, a former
Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives. The current Member for Watson, since the
2004 federal election, is
Tony Burke, a member of the
Australian Labor Party. In 2017, the division had the second-highest percentage of "No" responses in the 2017
Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, with 69.64% of the electorate's respondents to the survey responding "No". The Survey had strong opposition from
Muslim voters in the electorate. ==Demographics==