Electoral district of Upper Hunter

For the federal electorate, see Division of Hunter.

Upper Hunter is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. The seat is currently held by Dave Layzell for the National Party after he was elected at a by-election to replace Michael Johnsen.

Upper Hunter New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Interactive map of district boundaries from the 2023 state election
State	New South Wales
Dates current	1856–1894 1904–1920 1927–present
MP	Dave Layzell
Party	National
Namesake	Upper Hunter Shire
Electors	62,282 (2023)
Area	27,687.50 km2 (10,690.2 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural
Electorates around Upper Hunter: Barwon Northern Tablelands Northern Tablelands Dubbo Upper Hunter Myall Lakes Bathurst Cessnock Port Stephens

Upper Hunter covers the entirety of Dungog Shire, Muswellbrook Shire, Upper Hunter Shire, Singleton Shire, part of the City of Cessnock (including Branxton) and all of the City of Maitland north of the Hunter River.^[1]

History

In 1859, Upper Hunter replaced the Electoral district of Phillip, Brisbane and Bligh, established in the first Parliament in 1856. It had two members from 1880 to 1894. It was abolished in 1894 and largely replaced by Robertson and Singleton. In 1904 Robertson was abolished and Upper Hunter was recreated. It was abolished from 1920 with the introduction of proportional representation, but was recreated in 1927.^[2][3][4]

Upper Hunter is one of three electorates to have never been held by the Labor Party and always by the conservative side of politics since the abolition of proportional representation in 1927, the other two being Tamworth and Oxley. The Nationals have held the district without interruption since 1931.

Members for Upper Hunter

First incarnation 1856–1894

1859–1880, 1 member
Member		Party	Term
	John Robertson [5]	None	1859–1861
	Thomas Dangar [6]	None	1861–1864
	James White [7]	None	1864–1868
	Archibald Bell [8]	None	1868–1872
	John Creed [9]	None	1872–1874
	Francis White [10]	None	1874–1875
	Thomas Hungerford [11]	None	1875–1875
	John McElhone [12]	None	1875–1880

1880–1894, 2 members
Member		Party	Term	Member		Party	Term
	John McLaughlin [13]	None	1880–1885		John McElhone [12]	None	1880–1885
	Robert Fitzgerald [14]	None	1885–1887		Thomas Hungerford [11]	None	1885–1887
		Free Trade	1887–1889		John McElhone [12]	Free Trade	1887–1889
		Protectionist	1889–1894		William Abbott [15]	Protectionist	1889–1891
					Thomas Williams [16]	Labor	1891–1894

Second incarnation 1904–1920

1904–1920, 1 member
Member		Party	Term
	William Fleming [17]	Liberal Reform	1904–1910
	William Ashford [18]	Labor	1910–1910
	Henry Willis [19]	Liberal Reform	1910–1913
		Independent Liberal	1913–1913
	Mac Abbott [20]	Liberal Reform	1913–1917
		Nationalist	1917–1918
	William Cameron [21]	Nationalist	1918–1920

Third incarnation 1927–present

1927–present, 1 member
Member		Party	Term
	William Cameron [21]	Nationalist	1927–1931
	Malcolm Brown [22]	Independent Country	1931–1932
		Country	1932–1939
	D'Arcy Rose [23]	Country	1939–1959
	Leon Punch [24]	Country	1959–1962
	Frank O'Keefe [25]	Country	1962–1969
	Col Fisher [26]	Country, National	1970–1988
	George Souris [27]	National	1988–2015
	Michael Johnsen [28]	National	2015–2021
	Dave Layzell [29]	National	2021–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Upper Hunter

2023 New South Wales state election: Upper Hunter^[30][31]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Dave Layzell	19,868	37.0	+7.6
	Labor	Peree Watson	15,488	28.9	−2.0
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	James White	6,302	11.7	−7.3
	Independent	Dale McNamara	5,190	9.7	+9.7
	Greens	Tony Lonergan	3,207	6.0	+0.5
	Legalise Cannabis	Tom Lillicrap	2,743	5.1	+5.1
	Sustainable Australia	Calum Blair	862	1.6	+1.6
Total formal votes			53,660	96.6	+0.1
Informal votes			1,871	3.4	−0.1
Turnout			55,531	89.2	−2.5
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Dave Layzell	22,964	53.8	+3.3
	Labor	Peree Watson	19,732	46.2	−3.3
	National hold		Swing	+3.3

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