Electoral district of Orange

Orange is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a regional electorate that covers four local government areas in their entirety: the City of Orange, Cabonne Council, Parkes Shire and Forbes Shire.^[1]

Orange New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Interactive map of district boundaries from the 2023 state election
State	New South Wales
Dates current	1859–1920 1927–present
MP	Philip Donato
Party	Independent
Namesake	Orange, New South Wales
Electors	57,960 (2023)
Area	16,981.25 km2 (6,556.5 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial and rural
Electorates around Orange: Barwon Dubbo Dubbo Barwon Orange Bathurst Cootamundra Cootamundra Bathurst

The seat has been held by Philip Donato since a by-election in November 2016. Donato was initially elected as a member of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party but resigned in 2022 and became an Independent.

History

The electorate of Orange was created in 1859. Between 1920 and 1927, Orange and Hartley were absorbed into Bathurst, which elected three members under proportional representation. In 1927, Bathurst, Hartley and Orange were recreated as single-member electorates.

The area leans strongly toward the National Party. The Labor Party hasn't held the seat since 1947, although it came close to winning at a 1996 by-election. The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party won the seat at the 2016 by-election, after Andrew Gee resigned to successfully contest the federal electorate of Calare.

Members for Orange

First incarnation 1859-1920

Single member (1859–1880)
Member		Party	Term
	Saul Samuel	None	1859–1860
	John Peisley	None	1860–1862
	James Martin	None	1862–1863
	Charles Cowper Jr.	None	1863–1864
	William Forlonge	None	1864–1867
	George McKay	None	1867–1869
	Saul Samuel	None	1869–1872
	Harris Nelson	None	1872–1877
	Edward Combes	None	1877–1879
	Andrew Kerr	None	1879–1880

Two members (1880–1894)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	Andrew Kerr	None	1880–1882		William Clarke	None	1880–1887
	Thomas Dalton	None	1882–1887
		Protectionist	1887–1891			Free Trade	1887–1889
					James Torpy	Protectionist	1889–1894
	Harry Newman	Labor	1891–1894

Single member (1894–1920)
	Harry Newman	Free Trade	1894–1901
		Liberal Reform	1901–1904
	Albert Gardiner	Labor	1904–1907
	John Fitzpatrick	Liberal Reform	1907–1917
		Nationalist	1917–1920

Second incarnation 1927-

Second incarnation (1927–present)
Member		Party	Term
	John Fitzpatrick	Nationalist	1927–1930
	William Folster	Labor	1930–1932
	Alwyn Tonking	United Australia	1932–1941
	Bob O'Halloran	Labor	1941–1947
	(Sir) Charles Cutler	Country	1947–1975
	Garry West	Country, National	1976–1996
	Russell Turner	National	1996–2011
	Andrew Gee	National	2011–2016
	Philip Donato	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	2016–2022
		Independent	2022–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Orange

2023 New South Wales state election: Orange^[2][3][4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Philip Donato	26,815	53.08	+53.08
	National	Tony Mileto	11,123	22.02	−3.80
	Labor	Heather Dunn	4,939	9.78	−0.41
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	Aaron Kelly	2,752	5.45	−43.70
	Greens	David Mallard	2,149	4.25	−0.95
	Legalise Cannabis	Patricia Holt	1,601	3.17	+3.17
	Sustainable Australia	George Bate	785	1.55	+1.55
	Public Education	Gillian Bramley	354	0.70	+0.70
Total formal votes			50,518	97.35	+0.8
Informal votes			1,377	2.65	−0.8
Turnout			51,895	89.54	−1.97
Notional two-party-preferred count
	National	Tony Mileto	17,138	62.77	−2.28
	Labor	Heather Dunn	10,165	37.23	+2.28
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Philip Donato	31,212	71.86	+71.86
	National	Tony Mileto	12,225	28.14	−6.68
	Member changed to Independent from Shooters, Fishers, Farmers

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2023 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly) § Orange.[edit]