Electoral district of Upper Hunter
Upper Hunter New South Wales—Legislative Assembly | |
---|---|
State | New South Wales |
Dates current |
1856–1894 1904–1920 1927–present |
MP | Michael Johnsen |
Party | The Nationals |
Area | 27,687.50 km2 (10,690.2 sq mi) |
Upper Hunter is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Michael Johnsen of the Nationals.
Upper Hunter covers the entirety of Dungog Shire, Muswellbrook Shire, Upper Hunter Shire, Liverpool Plains Shire (excluding the area around Werris Creek), the northern half of Singleton Shire (including Singleton itself), northeastern Mid-Western Regional Council (including Bylong) and part of Mid-Coast Council.[1]
History
In 1859, Upper Hunter replaced the Electoral district of Phillip, Brisbane and Bligh, established in the first Parliament in 1856. It had two members from 1880 to 1894. It was abolished in 1894 and largely replaced by Robertson and Singleton. In 1904 Robertson was abolished and Upper Hunter was recreated. It was abolished from 1920 with the introduction of proportional representation, but was recreated in 1927.
Upper Hunter is one of three electorates to have never been held by the Australian Labor Party and always by the conservative side of politics since the abolition of proportional representation in 1927, the other two being Tamworth and Oxley. The Nationals has held it without interruption since 1931.
Members for Upper Hunter
First incarnation (1856–1880, 1 member) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Member | Party | Term | |
John Robertson | None | 1859–1861 | |
Thomas Dangar | None | 1861–1864 | |
James White | None | 1864–1868 | |
Archibald Bell | None | 1868–1872 | |
John Creed | None | 1872–1874 | |
Francis White | None | 1874–1875 | |
Thomas Hungerford | None | 1875–1875 | |
John McElhone | None | 1875–1880 | |
(1880–1894, 2 members) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Member | Party | Term | Member | Party | Term | ||
John McLaughlin | None | 1880–1885 | John McElhone | None | 1880–1885 | ||
Robert Fitzgerald | None | 1885–1887 | Thomas Hungerford | None | 1885–1887 | ||
Free Trade | 1887–1889 | John McElhone | Free Trade | 1887–1889 | |||
Protectionist | 1889–1894 | William Abbott | Protectionist | 1889–1891 | |||
Thomas Williams | Labor | 1891–1894 | |||||
Second incarnation (1904–1920, 1 member) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Member | Party | Term | |
William Fleming | Liberal Reform | 1904–1910 | |
William Ashford | Labor | 1910–1910 | |
Henry Willis | Liberal Reform | 1910–1913 | |
Independent Liberal | 1913–1913 | ||
Mac Abbott | Liberal Reform | 1913–1917 | |
Nationalist | 1917–1918 | ||
William Cameron | Nationalist | 1918–1920 | |
(1927–present, 1 member) | |||
Member | Party | Term | |
William Cameron | Nationalist | 1927–1931 | |
Malcolm Brown | Independent Country | 1931–1932 | |
Country | 1932–1939 | ||
D'Arcy Rose | Country | 1939–1959 | |
Leon Punch | Country | 1959–1962 | |
Frank O'Keefe | Country | 1962–1969 | |
Col Fisher | Country, National | 1970–1988 | |
George Souris | National | 1988–2015 | |
Michael Johnsen | National | 2015–present |
Election results
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National | Michael Johnsen | 18,384 | 38.9 | −15.6 | |
Labor | Martin Rush | 15,387 | 32.5 | +14.3 | |
Independent | Lee Watts | 9,170 | 19.4 | +19.4 | |
Greens | John Kaye | 2,608 | 5.5 | −0.1 | |
Christian Democrats | Richard Stretton | 1,003 | 2.1 | −0.3 | |
No Land Tax | Louisa Checchin | 744 | 1.6 | +1.6 | |
Total formal votes | 47,296 | 96.9 | +0.4 | ||
Informal votes | 1,506 | 3.1 | −0.4 | ||
Turnout | 48,802 | 91.2 | +0.2 | ||
Two-party-preferred result | |||||
National | Michael Johnsen | 20,496 | 52.2 | −20.8 | |
Labor | Martin Rush | 18,764 | 47.8 | +20.8 | |
National hold | Swing | −20.8 | |||