Sturt was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales in the Broken Hill area. It was a single member electorate from 1889 to 1920.[1][2][3]


Members for Sturt

Single-member (1889—1920)
Member Party Term
  Wyman Brown [4] Protectionist 1889–1891
  John Cann [5] Labor 1891–1894
  William Ferguson [6] Labor 1894–1901
  Independent Labor 1901–1904
  Liberal Reform 1904–1904
  Arthur Griffith [7] Labor 1904–1913
  John Cann [5] Labor 1913–1917
  Percy Brookfield [8] Labor 1917–1919
  Ind. Socialist Labor 1919–1920
Three members (1920—1927)
Member Party Term Member Party Term Member Party Term
  Percy Brookfield [8] Socialist Labor 1920–1921   Mat Davidson [9] Labor 1920–1927   Brian Doe [10] Nationalist 1920–1927
  Jabez Wright [11] Labor 1921–1922
  Ted Horsington [12] Labor 1922–1927
Single-member (1927—1968)
Member Party Term
  Ted Horsington [12] Labor 1927–1939
  Industrial Labor 1939–1939
  Labor 1939–1947
  William Wattison [13] Labor 1947–1968
 
Single-member (1971—1981)
Member Party Term
  Tim Fischer [14] National 1971–1980
  John Sullivan [15] National 1981

History

Prior to 1889 Broken Hill was part of the district of Wentworth. The population in Wentworth had grown significantly since the 1880 redistribution, especially as a result of the growth of mining at Broken Hill. Under the formula for seats, Wentworth was due to return 3 members. Because of the large area covered by the district, in 1889 it was split into 3, Wentworth, Sturt and Wilcannia.[16] In 1894 Sturt became a rural district, with the towns of Broken Hill and Alma (now known as South Broken Hill) in the eponymous districts of Broken Hill and Alma.[17] In 1904 Alma was absorbed into Broken Hill.[18] At the 1912 redistribution Sturt was recast, absorbing north Broken Hill, and the western part of the abolished district of The Darling, including the town of Tibooburra. South Broken Hill, the southern part of Sturt were combined in the new district of Willyama, along with the north western part of Murray.[19]

In 1920 Sturt was combined with Cobar, Willyama and much of the area of Murray to create a three-member electorate, elected by proportional representation. At the time it was one of the largest electoral districts in the world, said to be 121,000 square miles, with votes having to be brought sometimes 500 miles by the primitive transportation of the time to the central counting place. But proportional representation pundits as far as away as Canada revelled in STV's successful implementation under such conditions.[20]

In 1927, it became a single member electorate, but was renamed Broken Hill in 1968.

An entirely different district was created in 1971, containing the town of Narrandera and replacing parts of Albury, Murray, Murrumbidgee and Temora.[21] It was abolished in 1981 and replaced by Albury, Lachlan, Murray, Murrumbidgee and Wagga Wagga.[22]

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Sturt (New South Wales)
1981 Sturt by-election
Saturday 21 February [23]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
National Country John Sullivan 11,614 63.1 -3.0
Labor Michael Anthony 6,805 37.0 +3.0
Total formal votes 18,419 99.1 +0.5
Informal votes 165 0.9 -0.5
Turnout 18,584 82.6 -11.2
National Country hold Swing -3.0
Tim Fischer (National Country) resigned to successfully contest the 1980 Murray by-election.[23]

References

  1. ^ "Part 5B alphabetical list of all electorates and Members since 1856" (PDF). NSW Parliamentary Record. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Former Members". Members of Parliament. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  3. ^ Green, Antony. "Elections for the District of Sturt". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Mr Wyman Brown (1836–1899)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Mr John Henry Cann (1860–1940)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Mr William John Ferguson (1) (1859–1935)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 9 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Mr Arthur Hill Griffith (1861–1946)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b "Brookfield, Percival Stanley (1875–1921)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
  9. ^ "Mr Mark Anthony Davidson (1869–1949)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Mr Brian James Doe (1862–1941)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  11. ^ "Mr Jabez Wright (1852–1922)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Mr Edward Matthew Horsington (1878–1947)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  13. ^ "Mr William Ernest Wattison (1903–1975)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 10 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Mr (Tim) Timothy Andrew Fischer (1946–2019)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
  15. ^ "Mr John William Sullivan (1929- )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  16. ^ "1880 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  17. ^ "1893 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  18. ^ "1904 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  19. ^ "1912 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  20. ^ "Is proportional representation suitable for all elections in provincial constituencies?". The UFA. United Farmers of Alberta. 15 January 1929. p. 9. Retrieved 4 November 2019 – via archive.org.
  21. ^ "1966 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  22. ^ "1980 Redistribution". Atlas of New South Wales. NSW Land & Property Information. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015.
  23. ^ a b Green, Antony. "1981 Sturt by-election". New South Wales Election Results 1856-2007. Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
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