Division of Riverina

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

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	114,109 (2019)
Area	48,988 km^2 (18,914.4 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

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 Farrer and Parkes.

The division is located in South-West rural New South Wales, generally following the Murrumbidgee River valley. It includes the 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, Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party of Australia.

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
			Labor	26 May 1909 – 31 May 1913
		Franc Falkiner (1867–1929)	Commonwealth Liberal	31 May 1913 – 5 September 1914	Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Riverina 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 in order 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
			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
			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–)	Nationals	3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010	Retired
		Michael McCormack (1964–)	Nationals	21 August 2010 – present	Served as minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Turnbull. Incumbent. Currently a minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Morrison

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Riverina

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in New South Wales § Riverina[edit]

2019 Australian federal election: Riverina[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	National	Michael McCormack	60,493	59.93	+2.73
	Labor	Mark Jeffreson	23,380	23.16	−2.36
	United Australia	Richard Foley	10,814	10.71	+10.71
	Greens	Michael Bayles	6,254	6.20	+1.71
Total formal votes			100,941	94.84	−0.55
Informal votes			5,489	5.16	+0.55
Turnout			106,430	93.39	−0.02
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Michael McCormack	70,136	69.48	+3.04
	Labor	Mark Jeffreson	30,805	30.52	−3.04
	National hold		Swing	+3.04

References

1. Riverina, NSW, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

• Division of Riverina – Australian Electoral Commission