A Socio-Economic Analysis of Polling Booth Catchments at the 2019 Australian Federal Election

Abstract

Within the Australian political geography literature, a growing body of work has aimed to understand the distinctive socio-economic and demographic patterns that characterize the Australian federal political landscape. Using results from the last two federal elections (2016 and 2019), this paper analyses polling booth catchments in the context of stability and change in voter support. Polling booths are assigned to four possible types-stable Coalition, stable Labor, change to Coalition and change to Labor-depending on outcomes between 2016 and 2019. The polling booths are then given a unique spatially defined catchment which is then compared across a range of socioeconomic and demographic variables. The results suggest significant differences in polling booth catchments across several key indicators. These differences can be used to understand Australia’s political geography’s distinct and changing nature and add an important component to the existing literature.