Electoral district of Oxley

This article is about the New South Wales state electorate. For other uses, see Electoral district of Oxley (disambiguation).

Oxley is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Oxley New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Interactive map of district boundaries from the 2023 state election
State	New South Wales
Dates current	1920–1988 1991–present
MP	Michael Kemp
Party	National Party
Namesake	John Oxley
Electors	62,816 (2023)
Area	9,239.31 km2 (3,567.3 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural
Electorates around Oxley: Northern Tablelands Clarence Coffs Harbour Maitland Oxley Port Macquarie Myall Lakes Port Macquarie Pacific Ocean

While the Mid North Coast has throughout history been conservative, Oxley is seen as particularly conservative even by Mid North Coast standards. As a single-member seat, Oxley has only ever been held by a conservative party. It is a very safe Nationals seat.

History

Oxley was created in 1920, with the introduction of proportional representation, replacing Gloucester and Raleigh, and elected three members. It was named after John Oxley. In 1927 it was divided into the single-member electorates of Oxley, Gloucester and Raleigh. In 1988 it was abolished and replaced by Port Macquarie. It was recreated in 1991.^[1][2]

Oxley is one of three original (post 1927 redistribution) electorates to have never been held by the Labor Party, the other districts being Tamworth and Upper Hunter. The National Party has held the seat since its current incarnation was created in 1991.

At the 2007 election it included most of Bellingen Shire (including Bellingen and Dorrigo), Nambucca Shire (including Nambucca Heads, Macksville and Bowraville), Kempsey Shire, some of inland Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, including Wauchope, the lightly inhabited northwest of the Mid-Coast Council, and the lightly inhabited eastern fringe of Walcha Shire and Armidale Regional Council.^[3]

The next redistribution taking effect at the 2015 state election redrew Oxley to contain the entirety of Bellingen Shire, Nambucca Shire, Kempsey Shire and a large inland component of Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. Its significant population centres include Bellingen, Nambucca Heads, Macksville, Kempsey and Wauchope.^[3]

Members for Oxley

First incarnation 1920-1988

Three members (1920–1927)
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	George Briner [4]	Progressive	1920–1920		Joseph Fitzgerald [5]	Labor	1920–1927		Richard Price [6]	Progressive	1920–1922
	Theodore Hill [7]	Progressive	1920–1922
		Nationalist	1922–1927						Roy Vincent [8]	Progressive	1922–1927

Single-member (1927–1988)
Member		Party	Term
	Lewis Martin [9]	Nationalist	1927–1932
		United Australia	1932–1941
	George Mitchell [10]	Independent	1941–1944
	Les Jordan [11]	Country	1944–1959
		Liberal	1959–1965
	Bruce Cowan [12]	Country	1965–1980
	Peter King [13]	National	1981–1981
	Jim Brown [14]	National	1981–1984
	Bruce Jeffery [15]	National	1984–1988
Single-member (1991–present)
Member		Party	Term
	Bruce Jeffery [15]	National	1991–1999
	Andrew Stoner [16]	National	1999–2015
	Melinda Pavey [17]	National	2015–2023
	Michael Kemp [18]	National	2023–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Oxley (New South Wales)

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

2023 New South Wales state election: Oxley^[19][20]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Michael Kemp	24,987	47.5	−4.9
	Labor	Gregory Vigors	9,899	18.8	−1.5
	Greens	Dominic King	7,420	14.1	+1.6
	Legalise Cannabis	Megan Mathew	4,708	8.9	+8.9
	Independent	Joshua Fairhall	2,878	5.5	+5.5
	Sustainable Australia	Bianca Drain	1,400	2.7	−1.0
	Independent	Troy Irwin	1,316	2.5	+2.5
Total formal votes			52,608	96.5	+0.1
Informal votes			1,880	3.5	−0.1
Turnout			54,488	86.7	−1.7
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Michael Kemp	27,132	62.8	−2.6
	Labor	Gregory Vigors	16,047	37.2	+2.6
	National hold		Swing	−2.6