Residents from Bulli to Wombarra get a 'new' state MP

People living between Bulli and Coledale used to be represented by Labor's Ryan Park, but now their sitting member is Liberal Lee Evans.

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This is because a redistribution pushed the boundary of Evans' Heathcote electorate further south, from Wombarra to Bulli, swallowing up part of what was Mr Park's Keira seat.

All the electoral boundaries in the Illawarra have changed under the redistribution, along very similar lines to the draft proposals put to the public in November last year.

However, none have changed so much - or have so much significance - as the boundary between Keira and Heathcote.

According to election expert Antony Green, the change has seen Mr Evans' 5 per cent margin from the last election wiped out - his seat now has an estimated 1.7 per cent margin to the ALP's favour.

This is due to the fact that at the last state election, the booths in the area Mr Evans has acquired all voted Labor - and in a big way.

In two party preferred figures, Labor's vote was double that of the Liberals in all six booths from Bulli north.

"Ryan's personal vote down there is quite strong," Mr Evans admitted.

"It's going to be a battle, but I'm up for it."

He noted that his electorate once included the northern Illawarra, back in 2011.

"I've represented the area from 2011 until 2015, so I'm comfortable with the area - I know a lot of people down there," he said.

"It is going to be a push uphill. I'm going to throw everything at it and I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Mr Evans said he had done a lot of work with surf lifesaving clubs in the northern Illawarra and has kept those relationships going, even when he wasn't representing the area.

Mr Park said he had been through a number of boundary changes since winning Keira in 2011.

"It's always disappointing losing any part of your electorate," Mr Park admitted.

"It'll be a challenging seat to win as it always is. I'll put my hand up and I'll go into bat for the new constituents that I have who are living a little bit further south."

Both MPs felt the lockdowns would delay efforts to doorknock their new constituents, with Mr Evans suggesting politicians of all stripes will face community anger about the COVID situation.

Mr Park felt there would need to be an education campaign in the lead-up to the 2023 election "to make sure people understand there has been a change, because people in the middle of a pandemic are not worried about whether electoral boundaries are - and rightly so".

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