The Division of Richmond is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

Richmond
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Richmond in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election
Created1901
MPJustine Elliot
PartyLabor
NamesakeRichmond River
Electors118,652 (2022)
Area2,148 km2 (829.3 sq mi)
DemographicRural
Electorates around Richmond:
Wright
(QLD)
McPherson
(QLD)
Pacific Ocean
Page Richmond Pacific Ocean
Page Page Pacific Ocean

History

edit
 
The Richmond River, the division's namesake

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. The division is named after the area in which it is located,[1] namely the Richmond Valley and Richmond River, which was named in honour of Charles, the fifth Duke of Richmond.[2]

Historically, the division has been a rural seat and fairly safe for the National Party (formerly called the Country Party), which held it for all but six years from 1922 to 2004. For 55 of those years, it was held by three generations of the Anthony family—Hubert Lawrence Anthony (a minister in the Fadden and Menzies governments), Doug Anthony (leader of the National Party from 1971 to 1984 and Deputy Prime Minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments) and Larry Anthony (a minister in the Howard government)—the first three-generation dynasty in the Australian House of Representatives.[3] However, it became far less safe for the Nationals from 1983 onward, and strong population growth over the last three decades has seen it progressively lose its rural territory and reduced it to a more coastal-based and urbanised division. Accompanying demographic change has made the seat friendlier to Labor since the 1990s.

The division's most notable member outside of the Anthony family was Charles Blunt, leader of the National Party from 1989 to 1990. His tenure was short-lived, however. Just months after becoming leader of the Nationals, he was defeated in the 1990 election when the preferences of anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott allowed Neville Newell to claim the seat for Labor for the first time ever, despite only winning 27 percent of first preferences. It was only the second time that a major party leader had lost his own seat in an election. Larry Anthony (junior) regained the seat for the Nationals in 1996, only to be defeated by Labor's Justine Elliot in 2004—the first time a member of the Anthony family had been unseated in an election. In 2007, Elliot picked up a large swing as Labor won government, technically making Richmond a safe Labor seat. She retained the seat at the 2010, 2013 and 2016 elections. The victory in 2013 came even as Labor lost government, marking the second time (her 2004 victory being the first) that the non-Labor parties have been in government without holding Richmond. Also shortly after Elliot's reelection in 2010, it marked the longest time the Labor Party has held the seat.

Richmond had the sixth highest vote for the Australian Greens, and saw the highest rural seat vote for the Greens in the nation. A redistribution ahead of the 2016 election pushed the seat to the south, into the area around Ballina. Much of this area is in the state seat of Ballina, which was taken by the Greens at the 2015 state election. At the most recent election in 2019, the Greens won more booths on primary vote than Labor (Greens 20, Labor 9), although Labor won more total votes when including all booths.

Boundaries

edit

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.[4]

The division is located in the far north-east of the state, adjacent to the Coral Sea. It adjoins the Queensland border to the north, and encompasses the towns of Ballina, Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Byron Bay.

Members

edit
Image Member Party Term Notes
    Sir Thomas Ewing
(1856–1920)
Protectionist 29 March 1901
26 May 1909
Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Lismore. Served as minister under Deakin. Retired
  Liberal 26 May 1909 –
19 February 1910
    Walter Massy-Greene
(1874–1952)
13 April 1910
17 February 1917
Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Cook and Hughes. Served as minister under Hughes. Lost seat. Later appointed to the Senate in 1923
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
16 December 1922
    Roland Green
(1885–1947)
Country 16 December 1922
23 October 1937
Lost seat
    Hubert Lawrence Anthony
(1897–1957)
23 October 1937
12 July 1957
Served as minister under Menzies and Fadden. Died in office. Son is Doug Anthony and grandson is Larry Anthony
    Doug Anthony
(1929–2020)
14 September 1957
2 May 1975
Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Served as Deputy Prime Minister under Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Resigned to retire from politics. Father was Hubert Lawrence Anthony and son is Larry Anthony
  National Country 2 May 1975 –
16 October 1982
  Nationals 16 October 1982 –
18 January 1984
    Charles Blunt
(1951–)
18 February 1984
24 March 1990
Served as leader of the National Party from 1989 to 1990. Lost seat
    Neville Newell
(1952–)
Labor 24 March 1990
2 March 1996
Lost seat. Later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Tweed in 1999
    Larry Anthony
(1961–)
Nationals 2 March 1996
9 October 2004
Served as minister under Howard. Lost seat. Grandfather was Hubert Lawrence Anthony and father is Doug Anthony
    Justine Elliot
(1967–)
Labor 9 October 2004
present
Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Incumbent

Election results

edit
2022 Australian federal election: Richmond[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Justine Elliot 28,733 28.80 −2.91
Greens Mandy Nolan 25,216 25.27 +4.95
National Kimberly Hone 23,299 23.35 −13.51
Liberal Democrats Gary Biggs 7,681 7.70 +7.70
One Nation Tracey Bell-Henselin 4,073 4.08 +4.08
United Australia Robert Marks 2,922 2.93 −0.97
Independent David Warth 2,341 2.35 +2.35
Informed Medical Options Monica Shepherd 2,271 2.28 +1.10
Independent Nathan Jones 1,974 1.98 +1.98
Independent Terry Sharples 1,274 1.28 +1.28
Total formal votes 99,784 93.08 +0.52
Informal votes 7,424 6.92 −0.52
Turnout 107,208 90.37 −0.45
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Justine Elliot 58,104 58.23 +4.15
National Kimberly Hone 41,680 41.77 −4.15
Labor hold Swing +4.15
Primary vote results in Richmond (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Liberal
  National
  Labor
  Palmer United/United Australia Party
  Greens
  Australian Democrats
  One Nation
  Independent
  Liberal Democratic Party (Australia)
Two-candidate-preferred results in Richmond

References

edit
  1. ^ "Profile of the electoral division of Richmond (NSW)". Current federal electoral divisions. Australian Electoral Commission. 1 October 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  2. ^ "Richmond River". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 February 2013.  
  3. ^ Hogan, Allan (2011). "Dynasties: Anthony". ABC TV. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  4. ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  5. ^ Richmond, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.
edit

28°30′40″S 153°21′47″E / 28.511°S 153.363°E / -28.511; 153.363