| Upper Hunter New South Wales—Legislative Assembly | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  Interactive map of district boundaries from the2023 state election | |||||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Dates current | 1856–1894 1904–1920 1927–present | ||||||||||||||
| MP | Dave Layzell | ||||||||||||||
| Party | National | ||||||||||||||
| Namesake | Upper Hunter Shire | ||||||||||||||
| Electors | 62,282 (2023) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 27,687.50 km2 (10,690.2 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Demographic | Rural | ||||||||||||||
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Upper Hunter is anelectoral district of theLegislative Assembly in theAustralian state ofNew South Wales. The seat is currently held byDave Layzell for theNational Party after he was elected at aby-election to replaceMichael Johnsen.
Upper Hunter covers the entirety ofDungog Shire,Muswellbrook Shire,Upper Hunter Shire,Singleton Shire, part of theCity of Cessnock (includingBranxton) and all of theCity of Maitland north of theHunter River.[1]
In 1859, Upper Hunter replaced theElectoral district of Phillip, Brisbane and Bligh, established in the first Parliament in 1856. It had two members from 1880 to 1894. It was abolished in 1894 and largely replaced byRobertson andSingleton. In 1904 Robertson was abolished and Upper Hunter was recreated. It was abolished from 1920 with the introduction ofproportional representation, but was recreated in 1927.[2][3][4]
Upper Hunter is one of three electorates to have never been held by theLabor Party and always by the conservative side of politics since the abolition of proportional representation in 1927, the other two beingTamworth andOxley. TheNationals have held the district without interruption since 1931.
| 1859–1880, 1 member | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| John Robertson [5] | None | 1859–1861 | |
| Thomas Dangar [6] | None | 1861–1864 | |
| James White [7] | None | 1864–1868 | |
| Archibald Bell [8] | None | 1868–1872 | |
| John Creed [9] | None | 1872–1874 | |
| Francis White [10] | None | 1874–1875 | |
| Thomas Hungerford [11] | None | 1875–1875 | |
| John McElhone [12] | None | 1875–1880 | |
| 1880–1894, 2 members | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | Member | Party | Term | ||
| John McLaughlin [13] | None | 1880–1885 | John McElhone [12] | None | 1880–1885 | ||
| Robert Fitzgerald [14] | None | 1885–1887 | Thomas Hungerford [11] | None | 1885–1887 | ||
| Free Trade | 1887–1889 | John McElhone [12] | Free Trade | 1887–1889 | |||
| Protectionist | 1889–1894 | William Abbott [15] | Protectionist | 1889–1891 | |||
| Thomas Williams [16] | Labor | 1891–1894 | |||||
| 1904–1920, 1 member | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| William Fleming [17] | Liberal Reform | 1904–1910 | |
| William Ashford [18] | Labor | 1910–1910 | |
| Henry Willis [19] | Liberal Reform | 1910–1913 | |
| Independent Liberal | 1913–1913 | ||
| Mac Abbott [20] | Liberal Reform | 1913–1917 | |
| Nationalist | 1917–1918 | ||
| William Cameron [21] | Nationalist | 1918–1920 | |
| 1927–present, 1 member | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Member | Party | Term | |
| William Cameron [21] | Nationalist | 1927–1931 | |
| Malcolm Brown [22] | Independent Country | 1931–1932 | |
| Country | 1932–1939 | ||
| D'Arcy Rose [23] | Country | 1939–1959 | |
| Leon Punch [24] | Country | 1959–1962 | |
| Frank O'Keefe [25] | Country | 1962–1969 | |
| Col Fisher [26] | Country,National | 1970–1988 | |
| George Souris [27] | National | 1988–2015 | |
| Michael Johnsen [28] | National | 2015–2021 | |
| Dave Layzell [29] | National | 2021–present | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | Dave Layzell | 19,868 | 37.0 | +7.6 | |
| Labor | Peree Watson | 15,488 | 28.9 | −2.0 | |
| Shooters, Fishers, Farmers | James White | 6,302 | 11.7 | −7.3 | |
| Independent | Dale McNamara | 5,190 | 9.7 | +9.7 | |
| Greens | Tony Lonergan | 3,207 | 6.0 | +0.5 | |
| Legalise Cannabis | Tom Lillicrap | 2,743 | 5.1 | +5.1 | |
| Sustainable Australia | Calum Blair | 862 | 1.6 | +1.6 | |
| Total formal votes | 53,660 | 96.6 | +0.1 | ||
| Informal votes | 1,871 | 3.4 | −0.1 | ||
| Turnout | 55,531 | 89.2 | −2.5 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| National | Dave Layzell | 22,964 | 53.8 | +3.3 | |
| Labor | Peree Watson | 19,732 | 46.2 | −3.3 | |
| Nationalhold | Swing | +3.3 | |||