Division of Richmond

Richmond Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Richmond in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1901
MP	Justine Elliot
Party	Labor
Namesake	Richmond River
Electors	119,446 (2019)
Area	2,148 km2 (829.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Richmond is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales.

History[]

The Richmond River, the division's namesake

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. The division is named after the area in which it is located,^[1] namely the Richmond Valley and Richmond River, which was named in honour of Charles, the fifth Duke of Richmond.^[2]

Historically, the division has been a rural seat and fairly safe for the National Party (formerly called the Country Party), which held it for all but six years from 1922 to 2004. For 55 of those years, it was held by three generations of the Anthony family—Hubert Lawrence Anthony (a minister in the Fadden and Menzies governments), Doug Anthony (leader of the National Party from 1971 to 1984 and Deputy Prime Minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments) and Larry Anthony (a minister in the Howard government)—the first three-generation dynasty in the Australian House of Representatives.^[3] However, it became far less safe for the Nationals from 1983 onward, and strong population growth over the last three decades has seen it progressively lose its rural territory and reduced it to a more coastal-based and urbanised division. Accompanying demographic change has made the seat friendlier to Labor since the 1990s.

The division's most notable member outside of the Anthony family was Charles Blunt, leader of the National Party from 1989 to 1990. His tenure was short-lived, however. Just months after becoming leader of the Nationals, he was defeated in the 1990 election when the preferences of anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott allowed Neville Newell to claim the seat for Labor for the first time ever, despite only winning 27 percent of first preferences. It was only the second time that a major party leader had lost his own seat in an election. Larry Anthony (junior) regained the seat for the Nationals in 1996, only to be defeated by Labor's Justine Elliot in 2004—the first time a member of the Anthony family had been unseated in an election. In 2007, Elliot picked up a large swing as Labor won government, technically making Richmond a safe Labor seat. She retained the seat at the 2010, 2013 and 2016 elections. The victory in 2013 came even as Labor lost government, marking the second time (her 2004 victory being the first) that the non-Labor parties have been in government without holding Richmond. Also shortly after Elliot's reelection in 2010, it marked the longest time the Labor Party has held the seat.

Richmond had the sixth highest vote for the Australian Greens, and saw the highest rural seat vote for the Greens in the nation. A redistribution ahead of the 2016 election pushed the seat to the south, into the area around Ballina. Much of this area is in the state seat of Ballina, which was taken by the Greens at the 2015 state election. At the most recent election in 2019, the Greens won more booths on primary vote than Labor (Greens 20, Labor 9), although Labor won more total votes when including all booths.

Boundaries[]

The division is located in the far north-east of the state, adjacent to the Coral Sea. It adjoins the Queensland border to the north, and encompasses the towns of Ballina, Tweed Heads, Murwillumbah and Byron Bay.

Members[]

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		(Sir) Thomas Ewing (1856–1920)	Protectionist	29 March 1901 – 26 May 1909	Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Lismore. Served as minister under Deakin. Retired
			Commonwealth Liberal	26 May 1909 – 19 February 1910
		Walter Massy-Greene (1874–1952)	Commonwealth Liberal	13 April 1910 – 17 February 1917	Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Cook and Hughes. Served as minister under Hughes. Lost seat. Later appointed to the Senate in 1923
			Nationalist	17 February 1917 – 16 December 1922
		Roland Green (1885–1947)	Country	16 December 1922 – 23 October 1937	Lost seat
		Hubert Lawrence Anthony (1897–1957)	Country	23 October 1937 – 12 July 1957	Served as minister under Menzies and Fadden. Died in office. Son is Doug Anthony and grandson is Larry Anthony
		Doug Anthony (1929–2020)	Country	14 September 1957 – 2 May 1975	Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Served as Deputy Prime Minister under Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Resigned in order to retire from politics. Father was Hubert Lawrence Anthony and son is Larry Anthony
			National Country	2 May 1975 – 16 October 1982
			Nationals	16 October 1982 – 18 January 1984
		Charles Blunt (1951–)	Nationals	18 February 1984 – 24 March 1990	Served as leader of the National Party from 1989 to 1990. Lost seat
		Neville Newell (1952–)	Labor	24 March 1990 – 2 March 1996	Lost seat. Later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Tweed in 1999
		Larry Anthony (1961–)	Nationals	2 March 1996 – 9 October 2004	Served as minister under Howard. Lost seat. Grandfather was Hubert Lawrence Anthony and father is Doug Anthony
		Justine Elliot (1967–)	Labor	9 October 2004 – present	Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Incumbent

Election results[]

References[]

External links[]

• Division of Richmond - Australian Electoral Commission

Coordinates: 28°30′40″S 153°21′47″E / 28.511°S 153.363°E / -28.511; 153.363