# Electoral district of Bathurst

Bathurst is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is represented by Paul Toole of the
Nationals.
Bathurst is a regional electorate that encompasses the entirety of the local government areas of Bathurst Region, the City of Lithgow, Blayney Shire, Oberon Shire plus the southern part of Mid-Western Regional Council (including Rylstone, Kandos and Ilford).

## History

Bathurst was created in 1859, partly replacing Western Boroughs. Between 1920 and 1927, it absorbed parts of Hartley and Orange and elected three members under proportional representation. In 1927 Bathurst, Hartley and Orange were recreated as single-member electorates. It was held by the Labor party for 20 years until the Coalition's landslide win in 2011, where the Nationals candidate Paul Toole recorded a swing of 36.7%, the largest in state history. Of particular note was the suburb of Eglinton, where labour support plummeted from 854 of 1,690 (50.5%) to 180 of 1,690 (10.7%) first preference votes; a precipitous decline of 79%. This trend was somewhat reversed in 2015, with Toole being re-elected by a margin of around 15,000 votes, a majority of almost two-thirds of the vote, but still down from the approximate 20,000 margin from 2011.

## Members for Bathurst

(1859–1920, 1 member) :
| Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | John Findlater Clements | None | 1859–1860 |
| | James Hart | None | 1860–1864 |
| | James Kemp | None | 1864–1866 |
| | William Suttor, Sr. | None | 1866–1872 |
| | Edward Combes | None | 1872–1874 |
| | Francis Suttor | None | 1875–1887 |
| | William Cortis | Free Trade | 1887–1889 |
| | William Paul | Free Trade | 1889–1891 |
| | Francis Suttor | Protectionist | 1891–1894 |
| | Sydney Smith | Free Trade | 1894–1898 |
| | Francis Suttor | Protectionist | 1898–1900 |
| | William Young | Protectionist | 1900–1901 |
| | William Young | Progressive | 1901–1907 |
| | John Miller | Liberal Reform | 1907–1913 |
| | Ernest Durack | Labor | 1913–1917 |
| | Valentine Johnston | Labor | 1917–1920 |
| (1920–1927, 3 members) ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term | Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | Valentine Johnston | Labor | 1920–1922 | | James Dooley | Labor | 1920–1927 | | John Fitzpatrick | Nationalist | 1920–1927 |
| | Charles Rosenthal | Nationalist | 1922–1925 | | James Dooley | Labor | 1920–1927 | | John Fitzpatrick | Nationalist | 1920–1927 |
| | Gus Kelly | Labor | 1925–1927 | | James Dooley | Labor | 1920–1927 | | John Fitzpatrick | Nationalist | 1920–1927 |
| (1927–present, 1 member) ||||
| Member | Member | Party | Term |
| | Gus Kelly | Labor | 1927–1932 |
| | Gordon Wilkins | Country | 1932–1935 |
| | Gus Kelly | Labor | 1935–1967 |
| | Clive Osborne | Country | 1967–1981 |
| | Mick Clough | Labor | 1981–1988 |
| | David Berry | Liberal | 1988–1991 |
| | Mick Clough | Labor | 1991–1999 |
| | Gerard Martin | Labor | 1999–2011 |
| | Paul Toole | National | 2011–present |

## Election results

2023 New South Wales state election: Bathurst :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Paul Toole | 29,873 | 57.0 | +1.9 |
| | Labor | Cameron Shaw | 8,442 | 16.1 | −4.4 |
| | Shooters, Fishers, Farmers | Craig Sinclair | 3,850 | 7.3 | −7.4 |
| | Greens | Kay Nankervis | 3,595 | 6.9 | +1.3 |
| | Independent | Martin Ticehurst | 3,449 | 6.6 | +6.6 |
| | Legalise Cannabis | Antony Zbik | 1,472 | 2.8 | +2.8 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Burchell Wilson | 1,092 | 2.1 | +2.1 |
| | Sustainable Australia | Michael Begg | 626 | 1.2 | −1.4 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 52,399 | 97.4 | +0.4 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 1,400 | 2.6 | −0.4 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 53,799 | 90.5 | −1.1 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | National | Paul Toole | 32,850 | 73.6 | +5.7 |
| | Labor | Cameron Shaw | 11,801 | 26.4 | −5.7 |
| | National hold | National hold | Swing | +5.7 | |