Division of Darling
Darling Australian House of Representatives Division | |
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Created | 1901 |
Abolished | 1977 |
Namesake | Darling River |
The Division of Darling was an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. From 1901 until 1922 it was based on Bourke, Cobar, Nyngan, Coonamble and Gilgandra. From 1906 it also included Dubbo. The 1922 redistribution increased the number of voters in some rural electorates and as a result the division of Barrier was abolished with most of its population, including the large mining town of Broken Hill, Wentworth and Balranald, was absorbed by Darling along with Hay from Riverina. Dubbo was transferred to Gwydir in 1922 but returned to Darling in 1934. In 1948, Dubbo, Gilgandra and Coonamble were transferred to the new division of Lawson and Hay and Balranald were transferred to Riverina. In 1955 Coonamble returned to Darling. In 1977 it was abolished with Broken Hill and Wentworth going to Riverina and Bourke, Cobar, Nyngan and Coonamble going to Gwydir.[1]
Darling was named for the Darling River. It was a safe seat for the Australian Labor Party throughout its history. Its most prominent member was William Spence, one of the founders of the Labor Party and the Australian Workers' Union.
Members
Member | Party | Term | |
---|---|---|---|
William Spence | Labour | 1901–1916 | |
National Labor | 1916–1917 | ||
Nationalist | 1917–1917 | ||
Arthur Blakeley | Labor | 1917–1934 | |
Joe Clark | Lang Labor | 1934–1936 | |
Labor | 1936–1969 | ||
John FitzPatrick | Labor | 1969–1977 |
Election results
References
- ↑ Rhodes, Glenn (1989). Commonwealth of Australia 1901-1988 Electoral Distributions. Commonwealth of Australia. ISBN 0-644-08083-3.