Division of Riverina

Riverina
Australian House of Representatives Division
Riverina; Australian House of Representatives Division
	Division of Riverina in New South Wales, as of the 2019 federal election
Dates current	1901–1984, 1993–present
MP	Michael McCormack
Party	Nationals
Namesake	Riverina
Electors	116,172 (2022)
Area	48,988 km2 (18,914.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural and provincial
	Electorates around Riverina:

The Division of Riverina (/rɪvəˈriːnə/)^[1] is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

It includes the city of Wagga Wagga.

Geography

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.^[2]

History

The region of Riverina, 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, although it was abolished between 1984 and 1993, so has not been contested at every federal election. The division was named after the Riverina region in which it is located, though its modern borders do not correspond exactly with the Riverina region. The division covers a primarily agricultural, rural area with many small towns.

In the 1984 redistribution, the division was abolished and replaced by Riverina-Darling, but in the 1993 redistribution it was re-created.

Since its re-creation in 1993, it has been a safe Nationals seat. Its first incarnation tilted toward the Nationals' predecessor, the Country Party, for much of its history, but was occasionally taken by Labor during high-tide elections. It was fairly marginal for most of the 1970s and early 1980s, when it included the strongly pro-Labor mining towns of Broken Hill and Cobar which have now been transferred to Parkes.

The division is located in South-West rural New South Wales, generally following the Murrumbidgee River valley. It includes the larger city of Wagga Wagga, as well as the towns of Cowra, Forbes, Junee, Cootamundra, Temora, West Wyalong, Young, Tumut and Gundagai. The Sturt Highway runs along the length of the division, and it contains a large section of the Newell Highway.

The Division of Riverina also contains the major town of Parkes which has the same name as the bordering Division of Parkes.

The seat has previously been held by Al Grassby, Minister for Immigration in the Whitlam government. The current Member for Riverina, since the 2010 federal election, is Michael McCormack, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party of Australia from 2018 to 2021.

Members

First incarnation (1901–1984)
	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		John Chanter (1845–1931)	Protectionist	29 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Deniliquin. Lost seat
		Robert Blackwood (1861–1940)	Free Trade	16 December 1903 – 13 April 1904	1903 election results declared void. Lost seat in subsequent by-election
		John Chanter (1845–1931)	Protectionist	18 May 1904 – 26 May 1909	Lost seat
		John Chanter (1845–1931)	Labor	26 May 1909 – 31 May 1913	Lost seat
		Franc Falkiner (1867–1929)	Liberal	31 May 1913 – 5 September 1914	Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Hume in 1917
		John Chanter (1845–1931)	Labor	5 September 1914 – 14 November 1916	Lost seat
			National Labor	14 November 1916 – 17 February 1917
			Nationalist	17 February 1917 – 16 December 1922
		William Killen (1860–1939)	Country	16 December 1922 – 27 November 1931	Retired
		Horace Nock (1879–1958)	Country	19 December 1931 – 21 September 1940	Lost seat
		Joe Langtry (1880–1951)	Labor	21 September 1940 – 10 December 1949	Lost seat
		Hugh Roberton (1900–1987)	Country	10 December 1949 – 21 January 1965	Served as minister under Menzies. Resigned to become Australian Ambassador to Ireland
		Bill Armstrong (1909–1982)	Country	27 February 1965 – 25 October 1969	Lost seat
		Al Grassby (1926–2005)	Labor	25 October 1969 – 18 May 1974	Served as minister under Whitlam. Lost seat
		John Sullivan (1929–)	Country	18 May 1974 – 2 May 1975	Lost seat. Later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Sturt in 1981
		John Sullivan (1929–)	National Country	2 May 1975 – 10 December 1977
		John FitzPatrick (1915–1997)	Labor	10 December 1977 – 19 September 1980	Previously held the Division of Darling. Retired
		Noel Hicks (1940–)	National Country	18 October 1980 – 16 October 1982	Transferred to the Division of Riverina-Darling after Riverina was abolished in 1984
		Noel Hicks (1940–)	Nationals	16 October 1982 – 1 December 1984

Second incarnation (1993–present)
	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Noel Hicks (1940–)	Nationals	13 March 1993 – 31 August 1998	Previously held the Division of Riverina-Darling. Retired
		Kay Hull (1954–)		3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010	Retired
		Michael McCormack (1964–)		21 August 2010 – present	Served as minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Turnbull and Morrison. Incumbent

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Riverina^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Michael McCormack	45,951	46.57	−13.36
	Labor	Mark Jeffreson	20,193	20.47	−2.69
	One Nation	Richard Orchard	8,042	8.15	+8.15
	Liberal Democrats	Dean McCrae	6,563	6.65	+6.65
	Greens	Michael Organ	6,349	6.43	+0.23
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	Steve Karaitiana	6,280	6.37	+6.37
	Independent	Darren Ciavarella	2,701	2.74	+2.74
	United Australia	Daniel Martelozzo	2,585	2.62	−8.09
Total formal votes			98,664	92.68	−2.16
Informal votes			7,794	7.32	+2.16
Turnout			106,458	91.75	−1.64
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Michael McCormack	63,979	64.85	−4.63
	Labor	Mark Jeffreson	34,685	35.15	+4.63
	National hold		Swing	−4.63

Primary vote results in Riverina (second incarnation) (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)

National

Labor

Liberal

Greens

One Nation

Palmer United/United Australia Party

Liberal Democrats

Shooters, Fishers, Farmers

Independent

Two-candidate-preferred results in Riverina (second incarnation)

References

^ Macquarie Dictionary (4 ed.). Macquarie Library. 2005. ISBN 1-876429-14-3.
^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
^ Riverina, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Division of Riverina – Australian Electoral Commission

34°25′37″S 146°42′00″E / 34.427°S 146.700°E / -34.427; 146.700

[1] Macquarie Dictionary (4 ed.). Macquarie Library. 2005. ISBN 1-876429-14-3.

[2] Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

[3] Riverina, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

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