About Wentworth

Name Derivation:

Named after William Charles Wentworth (1790-1872), a noted Australian explorer and statesman. In 1813 he accompanied Blaxland and Lawson on their crossing of the Blue Mountains.

Area and Location Description:

Wentworth covers an area of approximately 26 sq km from Darling Point along the southern shore of Sydney Harbour to Watson's Bay and down the coast to Clovelly. The western boundary runs along Randwick Racecourse and includes Centennial Park and Paddington. The division of Wentworth is the smallest geographical division in Australia. The main suburbs include Bellevue Hill, Bondi, Bondi Beach, Bondi Junction, Bronte, Clovelly (part), Darling Point, Dover Heights, Double Bay, Edgecliff, North Bondi, Paddington (part), Point Piper, Queens Park, Randwick (part), Rose Bay, Vaucluse, Watson's Bay, Waverley and Woollahra.

Malcolm Turnbull's Description of Wentworth

Wentworth's green hills and golden beaches are strung like jewels between the harbour and the sea. From the tropical gullies of Bronte and Cooper Park to the urban bustle of Bondi Junction and Double Bay, from the sheltered rock pools of Watsons Bay to the thunderous waves of Tamarama, Wentworth's geography is as varied and engaging as its people. -

It is not a big place. You can paddle a surf ski from one end to the other in an hour; which is not a lot longer than it takes to drive in peak traffic!

Wentworth's most endearing aspect is the least well known. Contrary to popular myth, our community is egalitarian, democratic and far from homogenous. Like the majority of Wentworth's residents I grew up living in flats, mostly rented and, in the style of the times, with small rooms running off a long dark corridor.

I did not feel deprived of anything (although I would have liked a dog). I was rarely inside. The best things in Wentworth; the waves at Bondi, the ducks in Centennial Park or even the brisk nor'easter whipping down the harbour on a summers day take no account of your bank balance.

Most mornings my father and I went for a swim at North Bondi Surf Club. The surf club showers were no respecters of rank or privilege. Our companions included judges and garbos, teachers and policemen, businessmen of all types; from shmattas in Surry Hills to high finance in Martin Place. There were surgeons whose hands saved lives and there were gentlemen whose calloused hands were used, in a rather emphatic manner, to collect debts for bookies.

Wentworth was multicultural before the term was invented. Our prayers fly heavenward not just in English, but in the language of the New Testament at St George's Greek Church, of the Old Testament at Central Synagogue and many other shuls, and if you believe the Irish, (and who would doubt them?) just once a year in the tongue of the angels themselves at St Patricks in Bondi.
(from Malcolm Turnbull's First Speech in the House of Representatives 29 November 2004.)

Products/Industries of the area:

Finance, property, service, wholesale and retail trade, tourism, education, sport and recreation.

First Proclaimed

1900/1901

Members

M B Turnbull as member for 2004 -
Peter King (LP) 2001 - 2004
A Thompson (LP) 1995 - 2001
(Dr) J Hewson (LP) 1987-95
P Coleman (LP) 1981-87
R J Ellicott (LP) 1974-81
L H E Bury (LP) 1956-74
E J Harrison (UAP/LP) 1931-56
W M Marks (NP) 1919-31
W H Kelly (FT/ANTI-SOC/LIB/NAT) 1903-19
(Sir) W McMillan (FT) 1901-03