Electoral district of Newcastle

This article is about the New South Wales state electorate. For the Australian federal electorate, see Division of Newcastle.

Newcastle is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales named after and including Newcastle. It is represented by Tim Owen of the Liberal Party of Australia.

History

Newcastle was created in 1859 from part of North Eastern Boroughs. It gained a second member in 1880 and a third member in 1889. With the abolition of multi-member electorates in 1894, it was divided into Newcastle East, Newcastle West, Kahibah, Waratah and Wickham. Newcastle East and Newcastle West were abolished in 1904, with the reduction in the size of Parliament and Newcastle was recreated. With the introduction of proportional representation in 1920, it absorbed Kahibah, Wallsend and Wickham and elected five members. With the end of proportional representation in 1927, Newcastle was split into the single-member electorates of Newcastle, Hamilton, Kahibah and Wallsend. It has since been usually held by the Australian Labor Party

In early 2007, sitting member Bryce Gaudry failed to gain the preselection from the Labor Party, which instead chose a former local newsreader, Jodi McKay. Gaudry opted to stand as an independent and as a consequence split the Labor Party's vote. Independent former Lord Mayor of Newcastle John Tate came close to winning the seat after preferences but McKay managed to hold on. Labor's previous margin of over 15% had been slashed to as little as 1.4%, making it one of Labor's most marginal seats.

At the New South Wales state election, 2011, the Liberals' Tim Owen defeated incumbent and one-term member as well as minister Jodi McKay and popular Independent John Tate, marking the first time in history the Liberals had won Newcastle, and made gains in what was previously Labor heartland.

Members for Newcastle

First incarnation (1859—1880, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	Arthur Hodgson	None	1859—1860
	James Hannell	None	1860—1869
	George Lloyd	None	1869—1877
	Richard Bowker	None	1877—1880

(1880—1889, 2 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	James Fletcher	None	1880—1887		George Lloyd	None	1880—1882
					James Ellis	None	1882—1885
					George Lloyd	None	1885—1887
		Protectionist	1887—1889		James Ellis	Free Trade	1887—1889

(1889—1894, 3 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	James Fletcher	Protectionist	1889—1891		Alexander Brown	Protectionist	1889—1891		William Grahame	Protectionist	1889—1889
									James Curley	Free Trade	1889—1891
	David Scott	Labor	1891—1894		John Fegan	Labor	1891—1894		William Grahame	Protectionist	1891—1894

Second incarnation (1904—1920, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	William Dick	Liberal Reform	1904—1907
	Owen Gilbert	Liberal Reform	1907—1910
	Arthur Gardiner	Labor	1910—1917
		Independent Labor	1917—1920

(1920—1927, 5 members)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Arthur Gardiner	Independent	1920—1922		John Estell	Labor	1920—1922		John Fegan	Nationalist	1920—1922		William Kearsley	Labor	1920—1921		Hugh Connell	Labor	1920—1927
													David Murray	Labor	1921—1927
	Walter Skelton	Independent	1922—1925		Jack Baddeley	Labor	1922—1927		Magnus Cromarty	Nationalist	1922—1925
		Protestant Labor	1925—1927						George Booth	Labor	1925—1927

(1927—present, 1 member)
Member		Party	Term
	Peter Connolly	Labor	1927—1935
	Frank Hawkins	Labor	1935—1968
	Arthur Wade	Labor	1968—1988
	George Keegan	Independent	1988—1991
	Bryce Gaudry	Labor	1991—2007
		Independent	2007—2007
	Jodi McKay	Labor	2007—2011
	Tim Owen	Liberal	2011—present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Newcastle

New South Wales state election, 2011: Newcastle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Tim Owen	16,072	36.7	+26.9
	Labor	Jodi McKay	13,417	30.6	-0.6
	Greens	John Sutton	6,510	14.9	+3.6
	Independent	John Tate	5,067	11.6	-12.5
	Independent	Rod Noble	1,372	3.1	+3.1
	Socialist Alliance	Zane Alcorn	700	1.6	+1.6
	Christian Democrats	Milton Caine	496	1.1	-0.1
		Noel Holt	189	0.4	+0.2
Total formal votes			43,823	97.2	-0.4
Informal votes			1,264	2.8	+0.4
Turnout			45,087	92.4	+1.4
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal	Tim Owen	19,337	52.6	+52.6
	Labor	Jodi McKay	17,459	47.4	-3.8
	Liberal gain from Labor		Swing	+52.6

External links

• "Newcastle". New South Wales Electoral Commission. http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/profiles/district_profiles/newcastle. Retrieved 2007-01-25.