Knowing Sydney - What is not the Eastern Suburbs?
How well do you know Sydney?
This article attempts to rectify a common misconception out there. It is so common that you may have even started to believe it. This misconception is about what are and what aren’t Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. It can be summed up by a the common false assertion: Coogee is an Eastern Suburb. This paper will prove beyond any doubt that Coogee is not in the Eastern Suburbs, and by extension every suburb South of Coogee is also not an Eastern Suburb. The argument will be proved beyond a shadow of a doubt by going over the three different categories of Geography, Footy, and Politics. This article sticks to those three categories for brevity, though the argument could also successfully be made in the areas of history and culture too. Let me know in the comments if you are interested in those categories.
Geography
A good starting point for what is or isn’t an Eastern Suburb is to look at the map. Taking Central Station as a central point of Sydney we can draw a line due East. This line, with a generous margin either side, cuts right through the Eastern Suburbs. They include Paddington, Double Bay, Bellevue Hill, Rose Bay, and Bondi. A wide margin captures Suburbs like Bronte and Vaucluse. At a stretch Clovelly could even be included as East. Coogee on the other hand, it is clearly om the Southeast axis, well away from the East axis. Coogee falls well below the Southeast axis if you take Hyde Park, The QVB, or Martin Place as your starting point for the centre of Sydney. Thus, by simply looking at the geography and drawing lines on a map it is clear that Coogee is not an Eastern Suburb.
Footy
This section looks at the home turf of one of the most widely respected Rugby League clubs in the world, as well as the Roosters. The Sydney Roosters is “affectionately known as Easts”. So it stands to reason that their heartland is the Eastern Suburbs. You can see yourself which suburbs they are next time the Roosters play. You will see a sea of Roosters flags flying throughout Waverly, Bondi, and around their headquarters in Paddington. It is not the same in Coogee. Coogee is Rabbitoh’s territory. During the 2021 NRL grand final it was evident that Coogee is not in Easts’ territory by all the South Sydney Rabbitoh’s flags around Coogee. The green and red was in front of Coogee homes, flying from Coogee cars, on people’s clothes. Don’t believe it? Take a walk down Coogee Bay rd next time Souths play a big game.
“This is South Sydney” on Arden St. Coogee.
Politics
Polling booths in the actual Eastern Suburbs. Note, Coogee is not part of that.
There is more than just footy and geography that differentiates the Eastern Suburbs from Coogee, Randwick, Maroubra, and the like. The proper Eastern Suburbs are Liberal strongholds. While further South, it is Labor that dominates. Coogee is socio-politically different to the Eastern Suburbs. The political difference is seen at every level of politics and is consistent throughout history. An analysis of polling booths at the 2019 federal election shows Wentworth to be all blue. While Kingsford Smith is dominated by red. At the state level, Coogee is held by Labor, and has been held by Labor since the mid 70s, with one exception. It is a different story in the Liberal through-&-through seat of Vaucluse, which includes places like Bondi Beach. 2021 council elections also show the political divide between Eastern Suburbs and Coogee. In Waverly the Liberal vote was 48.9% of the total, while in Randwick it was just 27%.
Election results for Kingsford Smith (Coogee is in this federal seat)
Let me know in the comments below if you have any arguments for why Coogee actually is an Eastern Suburb. If you’d like analysis of a different area of Sydney leave a comment.
This article was first publish on the UniBRIDGE Project website.