Division of Nicholls

The Division of Nicholls is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria, which was contested for the first time at the 2019 federal election. Nicholls is in northern Victoria and was formerly known as the Division of Murray.

Nicholls Australian House of Representatives Division
Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the 2025 federal election
Created	2019
MP	Sam Birrell
Party	Nationals
Namesake	Sir Douglas Nicholls Lady Gladys Nicholls
Electors	121,472 (2025)
Area	14,116 km2 (5,450.2 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural
Electorates around Nicholls: Indi Indi Indi Mallee Nicholls Indi Bendigo McEwen Indi

Geography

Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are 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.^[1]

Nicholls is located in the north of the state, adjoining the Murray River, which forms Victoria's border with New South Wales and includes the towns of Shepparton, Yarrawonga, Seymour, Echuca, Broadford and Kilmore.^[2]

History

A statue of Sir Douglas and Lady Gladys Nicholls, the division's namesakes

The division is named in honour of Sir Douglas and Lady Gladys Nicholls, in recognition of their contributions to the advocacy of Aboriginal rights.

The Division of Nicholls was created in 2019 after the Australian Electoral Commission oversaw a mandatory redistribution of divisions in Victoria.^[3] Nicholls replaced the Division of Murray in the same location.

Prior to the 2019 election the seat was notionally held by the National Party on a margin of 22.3%, making it a very safe seat for the party.^[4] Its predecessor had been safely conservative for nearly its entire existence since its creation in 1949, with the Liberal Party and the National Party holding it for long spells. Indeed, much of this region has been held by a conservative party since Federation; the area was part of the Division of Echuca from 1901 to 1937, then Indi from 1937 to 1949.

The final member for Murray, Damian Drum of the Nationals, followed most of his constituents into Nicholls and easily retained it, albeit with a small swing against him.

Members

Image		Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Damian Drum (1960–)	Nationals	18 May 2019 – 11 April 2022	Previously held the Division of Murray. Retired
		Sam Birrell (1975–)		21 May 2022 – present	Incumbent

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Nicholls

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Victoria § Nicholls.[edit]

2025 Australian federal election: Nicholls^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Sam Birrell	48,762	46.24	+21.93
	Labor	Kim Travers	25,560	24.24	+11.08
	One Nation	Aaron Tyrrell	12,095	11.47	+4.87
	Greens	Shelby Eade	8,235	7.81	+4.08
	Trumpet of Patriots	Glenn Floyd	4,999	4.74	+4.24
	Family First	Paul Bachelor	4,717	4.47	+4.47
	Citizens	Jeff Davy	1,082	1.03	+0.66
Total formal votes			105,450	94.99	+2.63
Informal votes			5,556	5.01	−2.63
Turnout			111,006	91.45	+1.49
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Sam Birrell	67,887	64.38	+1.87
	Labor	Kim Travers	37,563	35.62	−1.87
	National hold		Swing	+1.87