Created 1949 Electors 111,908 (2016) Founded 1949 Elector 111,908 | MP David Gillespie Demographic Rural Member of parliament David Gillespie Namesake William Lyne | |
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Area 16,099 km (6,215.9 sq mi) Party National Party of Australia | ||
The Division of Lyne is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division is named after Sir William Lyne, Premier of New South Wales at the time of Federation and subsequently a minister in early Australian conservative governments. William Lyne was commissioned by the first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun to form the inaugural Federal Government. He was unable to attract sufficient support to form a cabinet and returned the commission. The unsuccessful commissioning of Lyne is known as The Hopetoun Blunder.
The division covers parts of Port Macquarie-Hastings and Mid-Coast Council local government areas.
The current Member for Lyne, since the 2013 federal election, is David Gillespie, a member of the Nationals.
History
The Division of Lyne was created in a redistribution in 1949 and was represented by the National Party (previously the Country Party and National Country Party) for almost 60 years. This reflects the area's history as a strongly conservative and rural region. The area has recently undergone significant demographic changes with the arrival of a large number of retired people and city dwellers seeking a sea-change. Despite these changes the Australian Labor Party has made little headway in increasing its vote.
In 1993, after the exclusion of minor candidates, the Nationals' Mark Vaile led over the Liberals by only 233 votes on the third count. Labor had taken a large first-count lead which it held for most of the night, but Vaile won after Liberal preferences flowed overwhelmingly to him. However, had 120 votes gone the other way, the Liberals would have taken the seat. Vaile later went on to become leader of the Nationals and Deputy Prime Minister during the latter stages of the Howard Government. He retired in July 2008, triggering a by-election later that year. The seat was lost to independent candidate and former state MP Rob Oakeshott, who retained the seat at the 2010 election. Oakeshott announced on 26 June 2013 that he would not contest the 2013 election. The Nationals' candidate David Gillespie easily regained the seat.