Division of Mitchell

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

Mitchell
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Mitchell in New South Wales, as of the 2016 federal election
Created1949
MPAlex Hawke
PartyLiberal
NamesakeSir Thomas Mitchell
Electors121,433 (2022)
Area101 km2 (39.0 sq mi)
DemographicOuter metropolitan

Mitchell is a largely white collar, upper class and socially conservative electorate in the Hills district of northwestern Sydney.[1][2] Mitchell includes the suburbs of Baulkham Hills, Bella Vista, Castle Hill, Northmead, North Rocks, West Pennant Hills and Winston Hills, along with the quickly growing housing estates around Kellyville and Rouse Hill.[2]

Mitchell is the most conservative metropolitan electorate and the second most conservative electorate in Australia after the Division of Maranoa.[3]

History
Sir Thomas Mitchell, the division's namesake

The division is named after Major Thomas Mitchell, surveyor and explorer who was the first European to explore large areas of New South Wales and Victoria. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 federal election. The majority of the electorate is fairly conservative, and it has been a safe seat for the Liberal Party of Australia for most of its existence. Labor has won it twice, for one term each. Labor last won it in 1972 in the swing that brought Gough Whitlam to power. However, proving this seat's conservative nature, the Liberals took it back in 1974 and have held it without serious difficulty since then. A 1984 redistribution cut out Richmond and the Hawkesbury River area, making this already safely conservative seat even more so. The current Member for Mitchell, since the 2007 federal election, is Liberal Alex Hawke.

The seat includes most of the Hills District, a region with a large evangelical Christian population that has pushed the seat further to the right. However, the southernmost suburbs of North Rocks, Northmead and Winston Hills are located in the Parramatta local government area, and share that LGA's bellwether tendencies. They been won by Labor at high-tide elections such as at the 2007 federal election. After the 2013 federal election, Mitchell replaced nearby Bradfield as the safest Coalition seat in metropolitan Australia, with Labor needing a 22-point swing to win it.[4] As of the 2019 federal election, it is the second-safest metropolitan Coalition seat, behind Cook, with an 18.6-point swing needed for Labor to win it.

Boundaries

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.[5]

The division is located in the Hills District of Sydney, and includes the entire suburbs of Baulkham Hills, Beaumont Hills, Bella Vista, Norwest, Box Hill, Kellyville, North Kellyville, Nelson, and Winston Hills. The division also includes parts of Castle Hill, Glenhaven, Maraylya, North Rocks, Northmead, Old Toongabbie, Rouse Hill, and West Pennant Hills.

Members
Image Member Party Term Notes
  Roy Wheeler
(1909–1971)		 Liberal 10 December 1949 –
9 December 1961		 Lost seat
  John Armitage
(1920–2009)		 Labor 9 December 1961 –
30 November 1963		 Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Chifley in 1969
  Les Irwin
(1898–1985)		 Liberal 30 November 1963 –
2 December 1972		 Lost seat. Last veteran of the First World War to serve in the House of Representatives
  Alfred Ashley-Brown
(1907–1993)		 Labor 2 December 1972 –
18 May 1974		 Lost seat
  Alan Cadman
(1937–)		 Liberal 18 May 1974 –
17 October 2007		 Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Howard. Retired
  Alex Hawke
(1977–)		 Liberal 24 November 2007 –
present		 Served as minister under Morrison. Incumbent

Election results
Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Mitchell
This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in New South Wales § Mitchell.[edit]
2022 Australian federal election: Mitchell[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Alex Hawke 56,918 52.61 −9.44
Labor Immanuel Selvaraj 27,597 25.51 +1.57
Greens Matt Cox 12,796 11.83 +3.76
United Australia Linda Daniel 3,916 3.62 +0.88
Liberal Democrats Clinton Mead 3,708 3.43 +3.43
One Nation Donald McKenzie 3,258 3.01 +3.01
Total formal votes 108,193 95.74 +0.78
Informal votes 4,811 4.26 −0.78
Turnout 113,004 93.11 −1.02
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Alex Hawke 65,662 60.69 −7.94
Labor Immanuel Selvaraj 42,531 39.31 +7.94
Liberal hold Swing−7.94

References
  1. "2016 Mitchell, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  2. "Mitchell - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results". abc.net.au. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
  3. "Where are the most left and right-wing seats? Vote Compass knows". ABC News. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  4. "House of Representatives - Two party preferred by division". Virtual Tally Room, Election 2013. Australian Electoral Commission. 4 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 November 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.
  5. Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  6. Mitchell, NSW, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

33.710°S 150.960°E / -33.710; 150.960

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