# Division of New England

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

## History

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It is named after the New England region in northern New South Wales.
From 1922 to 2001, New England was usually regarded as a comfortably safe seat for the National Party, formerly the Country Party. Only one Labor candidate has ever won the seat – Frank Foster at the 1906 election and again at the 1910 election, both times on small margins. Since then, the closest Labor has come to winning the seat was in the 1943 landslide, when the Country majority was pared back to an extremely marginal 1.1 percent. It was a marginal seat for most of the 1980s, but since the 1990s Labor has been lucky to get 40 percent of the two-party vote, and has frequently been pushed into third place.
The seat's best-known member was Ian Sinclair, leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989, a minister in the Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments and Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives for a few months in 1998. He was succeeded by Stuart St. Clair in the 1998 election.
St. Clair was then defeated in the 2001 by independent Tony Windsor, who held it until his retirement in 2013.
The member since the 2013 federal election has been former Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce, who served as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and leader of the National Party from 2016 to 2018. Amid the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, the seat was declared vacant on 27 October 2017 by the High Court of Australia arising from Joyce's dual citizenship. Joyce had renounced his dual citizenship effective from August to become a sole citizen of Australia and was thus eligible to run for federal parliament. Joyce regained the seat at a by-election on 2 December.

## 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.
The division is located in the north-east of New South Wales, adjoining the border with Queensland. The 66,394 km$^2$ division covers a largely rural area, with agriculture the main industry. From south to north it includes the regional population centres of Scone, Tamworth, Armidale, Glen Innes, Muswellbrook, Inverell and Tenterfield.
Under the original redistribution proposal in 2015, the Australian Electoral Commission announced it intended to abolish Hunter. Electors in the north of Hunter would have joined New England. Ultimately however, the Commission opted for a less radical proposal that saw Charlton abolished, Hunter pushed eastward to absorb most of Charlton's territory, and New England absorbing a few small areas in Hunter's north. Due to changing populations, overall New South Wales lost a seat while Western Australia gained a seat.

## Members

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| William Sawers (1844–1916) | Protectionist | 29 March 1901 – 16 December 1903 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Tamworth. Lost seat |
| Edmund Lonsdale (1843–1913) | Free Trade | 16 December 1903 – 1906 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Armidale. Lost seat. Later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Armidale in 1907 |
| Edmund Lonsdale (1843–1913) | Anti-Socialist | 1906 – 12 December 1906 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Armidale. Lost seat. Later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Armidale in 1907 |
| Frank Foster (1872–1948) | Labor | 12 December 1906 – 31 May 1913 | Lost seat |
| Percy Abbott (1869–1940) | Liberal | 31 May 1913 – 17 February 1917 | Retired. Later elected to the Senate in 1925 |
| Percy Abbott (1869–1940) | Nationalist | 17 February 1917 – 3 November 1919 | Retired. Later elected to the Senate in 1925 |
| Alexander Hay (1865–1941) | Nationalist | 13 December 1919 – 22 January 1920 | Lost seat |
| Alexander Hay (1865–1941) | Country | 22 January 1920 – 19 October 1921 | Lost seat |
| Alexander Hay (1865–1941) | Independent | 19 October 1921 – 16 December 1922 | Lost seat |
| Victor Thompson (1885–1968) | Country | 16 December 1922 – 21 September 1940 | Served as minister under Lyons and Page. Lost seat |
| Joe Abbott (1891–1965) | Country | 21 September 1940 – 31 October 1949 | Served as minister under Menzies and Fadden. Retired |
| David Drummond (1890–1965) | Country | 10 December 1949 – 1 November 1963 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Armidale. Retired |
| Ian Sinclair (1929–) | Country | 30 November 1963 – 2 May 1975 | Previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Served as leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989. Served as Speaker during the Howard Government. Retired |
| Ian Sinclair (1929–) | National Country | 2 May 1975 – 16 October 1982 | Previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Served as leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989. Served as Speaker during the Howard Government. Retired |
| Ian Sinclair (1929–) | Nationals | 16 October 1982 – 31 August 1998 | Previously a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council. Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon and Fraser. Served as leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989. Served as Speaker during the Howard Government. Retired |
| Stuart St. Clair (1949–) | Nationals | 3 October 1998 – 10 November 2001 | Lost seat |
| Tony Windsor (1950–) | Independent | 10 November 2001 – 5 August 2013 | Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Tamworth. Retired |
| Barnaby Joyce (1967–) | Nationals | 7 September 2013 – 27 October 2017 | Previously a member of the Senate. Served as minister under Abbott. Served as minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Turnbull and Morrison. Election results declared void due to dual citizenship. Subsequently, re-elected. Incumbent |
| Barnaby Joyce (1967–) | Nationals | 2 December 2017 – present | Previously a member of the Senate. Served as minister under Abbott. Served as minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Turnbull and Morrison. Election results declared void due to dual citizenship. Subsequently, re-elected. Incumbent |

## Election results

2022 Australian federal election: New England :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | National | Barnaby Joyce | 51,036 | 52.47 | −2.35 |
| | Labor | Laura Hughes | 18,056 | 18.56 | +5.81 |
| | Independent | Matt Sharpham | 7,659 | 7.87 | +7.87 |
| | Greens | Carol Sparks | 7,524 | 7.74 | +3.31 |
| | One Nation | Richard Thomas | 4,570 | 4.70 | +4.70 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Pavlo Samios | 3,174 | 3.26 | +3.26 |
| | Independent | Natasha Ledger | 2,708 | 2.78 | −0.38 |
| | United Australia | Cindy Duncan | 2,545 | 2.62 | −1.96 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 97,272 | 93.74 | +0.56 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 6,494 | 6.26 | −0.56 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 103,766 | 91.58 | −1.76 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | National | Barnaby Joyce | 64,622 | 66.43 | −1.20 |
| | Labor | Laura Hughes | 32,650 | 33.57 | +1.20 |
| | National hold | National hold | Swing | −1.20 | |