The Division of Riverina () is an Australian electoral division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in southwest New South Wales and includes the city of Wagga Wagga.

Since 2010, it has been represented by Michael McCormack, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party of Australia from 2018 to 2021.

Geography The division is located in southwest New South Wales, generally in the Murrumbidgee River valley. Part of its eastern border from the border with the Australian Capital Territory. It includes the local government areas of Wagga Wagga, Lockhart Shire, Snowy Valleys, Cootamundra–Gundagai, Junee Shire, Coolamon Shire, Temora Shire, Hilltops, Weddin Shire, Cowra Shire, Upper Lachlan Shire and Yass Valley. It includes the city of Wagga Wagga, as well as the towns of Cowra, Junee, Cootamundra, Temora, West Wyalong, Young, Tumut, Gundagai and Yass. The division covers a primarily agricultural, rural area with many small towns. Parts of the Hume Highway, the Sturt Highway, the Newell Highway, the Olympic Highway, the Mid-Western Highway and the Snowy Mountains Highway run through the division.

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.

History

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It was abolished between 1984 and 1993, so it has not been contested at every federal election. The division was named after the Riverina region in which it is located, though its modern borders do not correspond exactly with the Riverina region.

Between 1901 and 1906, it covered the south-west corner of the state, the MacCabe Corner. In 1906, the division was shifted eastwards to include about half of the abolished Division of Bland.

The seats first incarnation tilted toward the Nationals' predecessor, the Country Party, for much of its history, but it was occasionally taken by Labor during high-tide elections. Between 1969 and 1974, when it included the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (later part of Farrer), it was held by Al Grassby, Minister for Immigration in the Whitlam government. It was fairly marginal for most of the 1970s and early 1980s, when it included the strongly pro-Labor mining towns of Broken Hill and Cobar in the Far West of the state, gained from the abolished division of Darling in 1977. Between 1977 and 1984, Riverina covered the north-west and south-west corners of the state, the Cameron Corner and the MacCabe Corner respectively. In the 1984 redistribution, the division was abolished and replaced by Riverina-Darling. , the Far West areas are now covered by Division of Parkes.

Since its re-creation in 1993, it has been a safe Nationals seat. At the time, it covered Wagga Wagga and Griffith, but lost Griffith to Farrer in 2016. It also gained Parkes and Forbes. In the 2024 redistribution, it lost these areas and West Wyalong to the Division of Parkes but also gained Tumut, Yass, Tumbarumba and Crookwell from the divisions of Eden-Monaro and Hume.

The current Member for Riverina, since the 2010 federal election, is Michael McCormack, former Deputy Prime Minister and leader of the National Party of Australia from 2018 to 2021.

Members First incarnation (1901–1984) Image Member Party Term Notes  John Chanter Protectionist 29 March 1901 –16 December 1903 Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Deniliquin. Lost seat  Robert Blackwood Free Trade 16 December 1903 –13 April 1904 1903 election results declared void. Lost seat in subsequent by-election  John Chanter Protectionist 18 May 1904 –26 May 1909 Lost seat  Labor 26 May 1909 –31 May 1913  Franc Falkiner Liberal 31 May 1913 –5 September 1914 Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Hume in 1917  John Chanter Labor 5 September 1914 –14 November 1916 Lost seat  National Labor 14 November 1916 –17 February 1917  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –16 December 1922  William Killen Country 16 December 1922 –27 November 1931 Retired  Horace Nock 19 December 1931 –21 September 1940 Lost seat  Joe Langtry Labor 21 September 1940 –10 December 1949 Lost seat  Hugh Roberton Country 10 December 1949 –21 January 1965 Served as minister under Menzies. Resigned to become Australian Ambassador to Ireland  Bill Armstrong 27 February 1965 –25 October 1969 Lost seat  Al Grassby Labor 25 October 1969 –18 May 1974 Served as minister under Whitlam. Lost seat  John Sullivan Country 18 May 1974 –2 May 1975 Lost seat. Later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Sturt in 1981  National Country 2 May 1975 –10 December 1977  John FitzPatrick Labor 10 December 1977 –19 September 1980 Previously held the Division of Darling. Retired  Noel Hicks National Country 18 October 1980 –16 October 1982 Transferred to the Division of Riverina-Darling after Riverina was abolished in 1984  Nationals 16 October 1982 –1 December 1984

Second incarnation (1993–present) Image Member Party Term Notes  Noel Hicks Nationals 13 March 1993 –31 August 1998 Previously held the Division of Riverina-Darling. Retired  Kay Hull 3 October 1998 –19 July 2010 Retired  Michael McCormack 21 August 2010 –present Served as minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Turnbull and Morrison. Incumbent

Election results

References

External links Division of Riverina – Australian Electoral Commission