The Division of Hunter is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. The division was named after Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South Wales. It covers rural, regional and suburban areas centred on the Hunter Valley, including the towns of Singleton, Muswellbrook and Cessnock. It also extends into parts of Greater Newcastle, covering suburbs such as Cameron Park, Edgeworth, Toronto and Morisset.

Hunter is a largely blue-collar electorate. Hunter's economic base includes agriculture and mining, being dominated by a mix of rural and coal mining communities. The Hunter Region is one of the few remaining Labor-voting regional areas of New South Wales.

The current member since the 2022 federal election, is Dan Repacholi, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

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.

History

The seat has been in Labor hands since 1910, and for most of that time has been reasonably safe for that party. The Hunter Region has been one of the few areas outside of capital cities where Labor has consistently done well. Among its notable members have been first Prime Minister, Sir Edmund Barton, former Labor Leaders Matthew Charlton and Dr H.V. Evatt, and Joel Fitzgibbon, who was a minister in the first and second Rudd governments.

The seat has been held by two father-son combinations. Rowley James held the seat from 1928 to 1958 before giving it up for Evatt, who was in danger of losing his Sydney-area seat of Barton and wanted a friendlier seat in which to run. Evatt was succeeded after one term by Rowley James' son, Bert, who held it until 1980. Eric Fitzgibbon won the seat in 1984, handing it to his son, Joel, in 1996.

Two-party vote count Hunter had become somewhat marginal in the 1980s when much of its territory was shifted to the newly created Charlton. Since 1990, Labor has never tallied less than 53 percent of the two-party-preferred vote. Labor's worst two-party-preferred vote was 52.4% in 1984 and best result when challenged by an opposing centre-right candidate was 80.6% in 1961.

Hunter is one of Labor's only regional seats in New South Wales, likely due to it being a blue collar electorate. However, the Nationals and One Nation have increased their support over time due to Labor's policies on coal mining, a large industry in the region. However, the Labor MPs that represent Hunter often come from the Labor Right faction and support more conservative positions on coal mining.

First-preference vote count Labor's worst first-preference vote was in 2019, when the current member won only 37.5% of the primary vote; the previous 100-year worst being 44.5% in 2013, again by the incumbent member. Labor's best primary vote was 76.9% in 1946. As of 2019, the Division of Hunter is considered a marginal seat.

2015 proposed abolition In 2015 the Australian Electoral Commission announced plans to abolish the federation seat of Hunter. Due to changing populations, overall, New South Wales was to lose a seat while Western Australia was to gain an extra seat. Electors in the north of Hunter were to join New England. The roughly 40 percent remainder were to become part of Paterson, with the Liberal margin calculated to be notionally reduced from 9.8 percent to just 0.5 percent as a result. Since the Commission's guidelines require it to preserve the names of original electorates where possible, the commission proposed renaming Charlton to Hunter. Effectively, this meant that Charlton was abolished, and Hunter pushed slightly eastward to absorb much of Charlton's former territory. Most voters of the new Hunter came from the former Charlton. However, Charlton's Labor incumbent, Pat Conroy, brokered a factional deal to contest neighbouring Shortland in order to allow Fitzgibbon to continue to represent the new Hunter.

Boundaries

Redistribution Map Interactive Elections Notes2007200720092010 20132016 2016 2019 20222024 2025

Members Image Member Party Term Notes  Sir Edmund Barton Protectionist 30 March 1901 –30 September 1903 Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Hastings and Macleay. Served as Prime Minister from 1901 to 1903. Resigned to become a Justice of the High Court  Frank Liddell Free Trade 16 December 1903 –1906 Lost seat  Anti-Socialist 1906 –26 May 1909  Liberal 26 May 1909 –13 April 1910  Matthew Charlton Labor 13 April 1910 –9 October 1928 Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Northumberland. Served as Opposition Leader from 1922 to 1928. Retired  Rowley James 9 October 1928 –27 March 1931 Retired. Son was Bert James  Labor (NSW) 27 March 1931 –February 1936  Labor February 1936 –14 October 1958  H. V. Evatt 22 November 1958 –10 February 1960 Previously held the Division of Barton. Served as Opposition Leader from 1951 to 1960. Resigned to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales  Bert James 9 April 1960 –19 September 1980 Retired. Father was Rowley James  Bob Brown 18 October 1980 –1 December 1984 Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Cessnock. Transferred to the Division of Charlton  Eric Fitzgibbon 1 December 1984 –29 January 1996 Retired. Son is Joel Fitzgibbon  Joel Fitzgibbon 2 March 1996 –11 April 2022 Served as minister under Rudd. Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Gillard. Retired. Father was Eric Fitzgibbon  Daniel Repacholi 21 May 2022 –present Incumbent

Election results

References

External links Division of Hunter - Australian Electoral Commission