Created 1949 Electors 102,453 (2016) Area 101 km² Member of parliament Alex Hawke Namesake Thomas Mitchell | MP Alex Hawke Demographic Outer Metropolitan Founded 1949 Elector 102,453 | |
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Party Liberal Party of Australia | ||
The Division of Mitchell is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. The division is named after Major Thomas Mitchell, surveyor and explorer who was the first European to explore large areas of New South Wales and Victoria. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 federal election.
The division is located in the north-west suburbs of Sydney, and includes the entire suburbs of Baulkham Hills, Beaumont Hills, Bella Vista, Box Hill, Kellyville, Nelson, and Winston Hills. The division also includes parts of Castle Hill, Glenhaven, Maraylya, North Rocks, Northmead, Old Toongabbie, Rouse Hill, and West Pennant Hills.
The current Member for Mitchell, since the 2007 federal election, is Alex Hawke, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia.
History
The majority of the electorate is fairly conservative, and it has been a safe seat for the Liberals for most of its existence. Labor has won it twice, for one term each. Labor last won it in 1972 in the swing that brought Gough Whitlam to power. However, proving this seat's conservative nature, the Liberals took it back in 1974 and have held it without serious difficulty since then. The seat includes most of the Hills District, a region with a large evangelical Christian population that has pushed the seat further to the right. However, the southernmost suburbs of North Rocks, Northmead and Winston Hills are located in the Parramatta local government area, and share that LGA's bellwether tendencies. They been won by Labor at high-tide elections such as at the 2007 federal election. After the 2013 federal election, Mitchell replaced nearby Bradfield as the safest Coalition seat in metropolitan Australia, with Labor needing a 22-point swing to win it.