Created 1901 Founded 1901 Namesake Darling Downs | Abolished 1984 Date dissolved 1984 | |
The Division of Darling Downs was an Australian Electoral Division in Queensland. The division was created at Federation in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It was named after the Darling Downs region of Queensland, and consisted mainly of the city of Toowoomba and surrounding rural areas. The seat was safely conservative for its entire existence, almost always held by the Country Party (now called the National Party) or the Liberal Party and its predecessors. Its prominent members included Sir Littleton Groom, Cabinet minister and Speaker, and Arthur Fadden, Prime Minister of Australia in 1941.
The electorate's first member, William Henry Groom, died at the first Commonwealth Parliament meeting in Melbourne in 1901. His death led to Australia's first by-election, which was won by his son Littleton. The seat was abolished in 1984, being replaced by the Division of Groom.