Division of Charlton

Charlton
Australian House of Representatives Division

Division of Charlton (green) in New South Wales
Created 1984
MP Pat Conroy
Party Labor
Namesake Matthew Charlton
Electors 98,534 (2013)[1]
Area 688 km2 (265.6 sq mi)
Demographic Provincial

The Division of Charlton is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division was created in 1984 and is named for Matthew Charlton, who was Leader of the Australian Labor Party 1922-28.

The division is located in the Hunter region of New South Wales, including the coal-mining towns of Cardiff and Wallsend as well as Toronto, Morisset, Cooranbong, Brightwaters, Windermere Park, Sunshine, Glendale and Warners Bay.

The current Member for Charlton, since the 2013 federal election, is Pat Conroy, a member of the Australian Labor Party.

Under the proposed redistribution for the next federal election, Charlton is set to be renamed Hunter. The current Division of Hunter is slated to be abolished, and the Australian Electoral Commission's guidelines for redistributions require it to preserve the names of original Federation electorates where possible.[2][3]

History

Charlton was first created in 1984. Much of its territory came from the Division of Hunter, which Matthew Charlton held from 1910 to 1928. Since its inception, it has been a safe seat for Labor. The Hunter Region is one of the few country areas where Labor has consistently done well.

The most prominent members have been Bob Brown, a minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, and Greg Combet, a former secretary of the ACTU from 2000 to 2007, and a minister in the Gillard and Rudd governments.

During the 2013 federal election campaign, the Liberal Party of Australia endorsed Kevin Baker as their candidate for the division.[4] However, Baker was forced to end his campaign on 21 August 2013 due to controversy over inappropriate content on a car enthusiasts' website that he hosted. The Australian Electoral Commission had closed candidate nominations by the time Baker abandoned his campaign. The Liberals did not field a replacement candidate in the election. However, Baker was still listed on ballot papers as the Liberal candidate, as they had already been printed at the time of Baker's resignation from the campaign;[5] in excess of 24,500 electors gave him their first preference vote.[1]

Members

MemberPartyTerm
  Bob Brown Labor 1984–1998
  Kelly Hoare Labor 1998–2007
  Greg Combet Labor 2007–2013
  Pat Conroy Labor 2013–present

Election results

Australian federal election, 2013: Charlton[1]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Pat Conroy 40,125 46.44 −6.71
Liberal Kevin Baker 24,646 28.53 −2.18
Palmer United Bronwyn Reid 9,412 10.89 +10.89
Greens Dessie Kocher 5,820 6.74 −2.09
Christian Democrats Steve Camilleri 2,671 3.09 +0.27
One Nation Brian Burston 2,266 2.62 +2.62
Bullet Train Trevor Anthoney 1,460 1.69 +1.69
Total formal votes 86,400 92.89 −0.19
Informal votes 6,618 7.11 +0.19
Turnout 93,018 94.40 −0.08
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Pat Conroy 51,173 59.23 −3.44
Liberal Kevin Baker 35,227 40.77 +3.44
Labor hold Swing −3.44

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Charlton, NSW". Election 2013. Australian Electoral Commission. 27 September 2013. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
  2. ↑ Australian Electoral Commission to abolish Federal NSW seat of Hunter: ABC 16 October 2015
  3. ↑ Draft federal redistribution of New South Wales: Poll Bludger
  4. ↑ "Libs announce candidate for seat of Charlton". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 4 March 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Liberal candidate Kevin Baker quits race for Charlton over lewd website". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 20 August 2013.

External links

Coordinates: 33°02′13″S 151°31′30″E / 33.037°S 151.525°E / -33.037; 151.525

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