- Division of Richmond
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Richmond
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Richmond (green) within New South WalesCreated: 1901 MP: Justine Elliot Party: Labor Namesake: Richmond River Area: 2,768 km² (1,069 sq mi) Demographic: Rural The Division of Richmond is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the far north-east of the state, along the Pacific coast. It adjoins the Queensland border to the north, and encompasses the towns of Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Byron Bay.
The Division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 75 divisions to be contested at the first Federal election. Historically, it was traditionally been a rural seat and fairly safe for the National Party, which held it for all but six years from 1922 to 2004. It was held by three generations of the Anthony family, the first three-generation dynasty in the Australian House of Representatives. However, strong population growth has seen it progressively lose its rural territory to become a more urbanised coastal division, and demographic change has made the seat marginally Labor in recent years.
Besides the Anthony family, the division was also held by former Nationals leader Charles Blunt. His tenure was short-lived, however. Just months after becoming leader of the Nationals, he was thrown from office in the 1990 election when the preferences of anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott allowed Labor challenger Neville Newell to defeat him despite only winning 27 percent of first preferences. It was only the second time a major party leader had lost his own seat in an election.
Members
Member Party Term Thomas Ewing Protectionist 1901–1909 Commonwealth Liberal 1909–1910 Walter Massy-Greene Commonwealth Liberal 1910–1916 Nationalist 1916–1922 Roland Green Country 1922–1937 Larry Anthony (senior) Country 1937–1957 Doug Anthony Country 1957–1975 National Country 1975–1982 National 1982–1984 Charles Blunt National 1984–1990 Neville Newell Labor 1990–1996 Larry Anthony National 1996–2004 Justine Elliot Labor 2004–present Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of RichmondAustralian federal election, 2010: Richmond Party Candidate Votes % ±% Labor Justine Elliot 31,679 39.19 -4.62 National Alan Hunter 17,146 21.21 -15.77 Liberal Joan van Lieshout 15,424 19.08 +19.08 Greens Joe Ebono 13,056 16.15 +1.22 Independent Julie Boyd 940 1.16 +1.16 Independent Matthew Hartley 805 1.00 +1.00 Independent Stephen Hegedus 747 0.92 +0.92 Independent Nic Faulkner 536 0.66 +0.66 Democrats David Robinson 502 0.62 +0.62 Total formal votes 80,835 94.45 -1.27 Informal votes 4,752 5.55 +1.27 Turnout 85,587 92.64 -1.85 Two-candidate preferred result Labor Justine Elliot 46,071 56.99 -1.88 National Alan Hunter 34,764 43.01 +1.88 Labor hold Swing -1.88 References
Categories:- Electoral divisions of Australia
- Australian electorates contested at every election
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