Division of Newcastle

This article is about the Australian federal electorate. For the New South Wales state electorate, see Electoral district of Newcastle. For the historical South Australian state electorate, see Electoral district of Newcastle (South Australia).

Newcastle Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Newcastle in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1901
MP	Sharon Claydon
Party	Labor
Namesake	Newcastle, New South Wales
Electors	113,386 (2016)
Area	171 km² (66.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division of Newcastle is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 75 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. The division was named after the city of Newcastle, around which the division is centred.

The current Member for the Division of Newcastle, since the 2013 federal election, is Sharon Claydon, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

History

It has been held by the Australian Labor Party for its entire existence. Historically, it has been one of that party's safest non-metropolitan seats; the Hunter Region is one of the few country regions where Labor consistently does well. Labor has never tallied less than 58 percent of the two-party preferred vote in a general election, and has only come close to losing it once, when it tallied 53 percent in a 1935 by-election. It is the only original division to be held by just one party since the first federal election.

The Division of Newcastle has had just six members since 1901, the equal fewest (with Melbourne Ports) of any of the original divisions. From 1901 to 1958, the seat was held by the Watkins family. The seat's first member, David Watkins, held the seat until his death in 1935. The ensuing by-election was won by his son, David Oliver. Allan Morris' brother Peter Morris was also a Member of the House, holding the Division of Shortland, which lies immediately to the south. Charles Jones' brother Sam was the member for Waratah in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly for much of the time that he was the member. The electoral district of Waratah lay within the boundaries of the Division of Newcastle.

The seat's most prominent members were David Watkins, the second-longest serving member of the First Parliament, and Charles Jones, a minister in the Whitlam government.

Members

	Party	Term
David Watkins	Labor	1901–1935
David Oliver Watkins	Labor	1935–1958
Charles Jones	Labor	1958–1983
Allan Morris	Labor	1983–2001
Sharon Grierson	Labor	2001–2013
Sharon Claydon	Labor	2013–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Newcastle

Australian federal election, 2016: Newcastle^[1]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Labor	Sharon Claydon	46,762	47.12	+2.83
	Liberal	David Compton	29,689	29.92	−3.26
	Greens	John Mackenzie	13,558	13.66	+2.06
	Drug Law Reform	Karen Burge	3,391	3.42	+3.42
	Independent	Rod Holding	2,735	2.76	+2.17
	Christian Democrats	Milton Caine	2,132	2.15	+0.43
	Democratic Labour	Stuart Southwell	968	0.98	+0.98
Total formal votes			99,235	95.26	+1.56
Informal votes			4,939	4.74	−1.56
Turnout			104,174	91.88	−2.39
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Sharon Claydon	63,348	63.84	+4.44
	Liberal	David Compton	35,887	36.16	−4.44
	Labor hold		Swing	+4.44

References

↑ Newcastle, NSW, Virtual Tally Room 2016, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Division of Newcastle - Australian Electoral Commission

Electoral divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in New South Wales

Banks Barton Bennelong Berowra Blaxland Bradfield Calare Chifley Cook Cowper Cunningham Dobell Eden-Monaro Farrer Fowler Gilmore Grayndler Greenway Hughes Hume Hunter Kingsford Smith Lindsay Lyne Macarthur Mackellar Macquarie McMahon Mitchell New England Newcastle North Sydney Page Parkes Parramatta Paterson Reid Richmond Riverina Robertson Shortland Sydney Warringah Watson Wentworth Werriwa Whitlam Abolished: Barrier Bland Canobolas Charlton Cook (1906–55) Dalley Darling Dundas East Sydney Evans Gwydir Illawarra Lang Lawson Lowe Martin Nepean Parkes (1901–69) Phillip Prospect Riverina-Darling St George South Sydney Throsby Watson (1934–69) West Sydney

Divisions in: New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Tasmania Australian Capital and Northern Territories

Coordinates: 32°50′28″S 151°45′11″E / 32.841°S 151.753°E / -32.841; 151.753

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