| Clarence New South Wales—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
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Interactive map of district boundaries from the2023 state election | |||||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Dates current | 1859–1920 1927–present | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Richie Williamson | ||||||||||||||
| Party | The Nationals | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Clarence River | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 57,265 (2023) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 13,494.54 km2 (5,210.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural | ||||||||||||||
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Clarence is anelectoral district of theLegislative Assembly in the Australian state ofNew South Wales.
It includes all of theClarence Valley Council includingGrafton,Maclean,Yamba,Illuka,Junction Hill,Ulmarra,Coutts Crossing andGlenreagh, as well as all of theRichmond Valley Council includingCasino,Coraki,Woodburn,Evans Head andTatham.[1]
Clarence was created in 1859, replacing the New South Wales part ofClarence and Darling Downs. With the introduction ofproportional representation in 1920, it was absorbed intoByron along withLismore. It was recreated in 1927.
It has historically been a safeNational seat, having been held by that party for all but seven years in its current incarnation. However,Labor has won it at high-tide elections.
| First incarnation (1859–1920) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Clark Irving [2] | None | 1859–1864 | |
| John Laycock [3] | None | 1864–1866 | |
| John Robertson [4] | None | 1866–1869 | |
| Thomas Bawden [5] | None | 1869–1880 | |
| Charles Fawcett [6] | None | 1880–1880 | |
| John Purves [7] | None | 1880–1887 | |
| John McFarlane [8] | Protectionist | 1887–1901 | |
| Progressive | 1901–1907 | ||
| Liberal Reform | 1907–1915 | ||
| William Zuill [9] | Liberal Reform | 1915–1917 | |
| Nationalist | 1917–1920 | ||
| Second incarnation (1927–present) | |||
| Member | Party | Term | |
| Alfred Pollack [10] | Country | 1927–1931 | |
| Alfred Henry [11] | Country | 1931–1938 | |
| Cecil Wingfield [12] | Country | 1938–1955 | |
| Bill Weiley [13] | Country | 1955–1971 | |
| Matt Singleton [14] | Country | 1971–1981 | |
| Don Day [15] | Labor | 1981–1984 | |
| Ian Causley [16] | National | 1984–1996 | |
| Harry Woods [17] | Labor | 1996–2003 | |
| Steve Cansdell [18] | National | 2003–2011 | |
| Chris Gulaptis [19] | National | 2011–2023 | |
| Richie Williamson | National | 2023–present | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Richie Williamson | 24,247 | 49.6 | +3.0 | |
| Labor | Leon Ankersmit | 10,700 | 21.9 | +0.9 | |
| Greens | Greg Clancy | 3,739 | 7.6 | −0.3 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Mark Rayner | 3,708 | 7.6 | +7.6 | |
| Independent | Debrah Novak | 3,433 | 7.0 | +7.0 | |
| Independent | Nicki Levi | 1,320 | 2.7 | +2.7 | |
| Sustainable Australia | George Keller | 1,061 | 2.2 | +0.6 | |
| IndependentIndigenous | Brett Duroux | 725 | 1.5 | +1.5 | |
| Total formal votes | 48,933 | 96.2 | −0.5 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,911 | 3.8 | +0.5 | ||
| Turnout | 50,844 | 88.8 | −0.7 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| National | Richie Williamson | 26,475 | 64.3 | −0.2 | |
| Labor | Leon Ankersmit | 14,731 | 35.7 | +0.2 | |
| Nationalhold | Swing | −0.2 | |||