Division of Hunter
| Hunter Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
|
Division of Hunter (green) within New South Wales | |
| Created | 1901 |
| MP | Joel Fitzgibbon |
| Party | Labor |
| Namesake | John Hunter |
| Electors | 97,292 (2013)[1] |
| Area | 20,111 km2 (7,764.9 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Rural |
The Division of Hunter is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The Division was named after Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South Wales.
The division is located in northern rural New South Wales, and encompasses much of the Hunter Region, including the towns of Singleton, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Cessnock and Denman. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 75 divisions to be contested at the first federal election.
The Member for the Division of Hunter, since the 1996 federal election, is Joel Fitzgibbon, a member of the Australian Labor Party.
History
The seat has been in Labor hands since 1910, and for most of that time has been reasonably safe for that party. The Hunter Region has been one of the few country areas where Labor has consistently done well. Among its notable members have been Prime Minister Edmund Barton, former Labor Leaders Matthew Charlton and Dr H. V. Evatt, and Joel Fitzgibbon, who was a minister in the first and second Rudd governments. The seat became somewhat marginal in 1984 when much of its territory was shifted to the newly created Charlton, but since 1990 Labor has never tallied less than 53 percent of the two-party vote.
The seat has been held by two father-son combinations. Rowley James held the seat from 1928 to 1958 before giving it up for Evatt, who was in danger of losing his Sydney-area seat of Barton and wanted a friendlier seat in which to run. Evatt was succeeded after one term by Rowley James' son, Bert, who held it until 1980. Eric Fitzgibbon won the seat in 1984, handing it to his son and current member, Joel, in 1996.
Members
| Member | Party | Term | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (Sir) Edmund Barton | Protectionist | 1901–1903 | |
| Frank Liddell | Free Trade, Anti-Socialist | 1903–1909 | |
| Commonwealth Liberal | 1909–1910 | ||
| Matthew Charlton | Labor | 1910–1928 | |
| Rowley James | Labor | 1928–1931 | |
| Lang Labor | 1931–1936 | ||
| Labor | 1936–1958 | ||
| H. V. Evatt | Labor | 1958–1960 | |
| Bert James | Labor | 1960–1980 | |
| Bob Brown | Labor | 1980–1984 | |
| Eric Fitzgibbon | Labor | 1984–1996 | |
| Joel Fitzgibbon | Labor | 1996–present | |
Election results
| Australian federal election, 2013: Hunter[1] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labor | Joel Fitzgibbon | 38,241 | 44.50 | −9.81 | |
| National | Michael Johnsen | 30,170 | 35.11 | +4.06 | |
| Palmer United | Jennifer Stefanac | 6,552 | 7.62 | +7.62 | |
| Greens | David Atwell | 5,066 | 5.89 | −3.03 | |
| One Nation | Bill Fox | 3,245 | 3.78 | +0.43 | |
| Christian Democrats | Richard Stretton | 1,834 | 2.13 | −0.25 | |
| CEC | Ann Lawler | 833 | 0.97 | +0.97 | |
| Total formal votes | 85,941 | 93.46 | −0.33 | ||
| Informal votes | 6,014 | 6.54 | +0.33 | ||
| Turnout | 91,955 | 94.51 | −0.22 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Labor | Joel Fitzgibbon | 46,125 | 53.67 | −8.81 | |
| National | Michael Johnsen | 39,816 | 46.33 | +8.81 | |
| Labor hold | Swing | −8.81 | |||
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "NSW Division - Hunter, NSW". Virtual Tally Room, Election 2013. Australian Electoral Commission. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
External links
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