The Division of Mitchell is an Australian electoral division in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It is currently represented by

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

Alex Hawke Alexander George Hawke (born 9 July 1977) is an Australian politician who served as Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs from 2020 to 2022 in the Morrison government. Hawke has served as Member of ...

. Mitchell is a largely

white collar White collar may refer to: * White-collar worker, a professional who performs office-based or similar service-based jobs, as opposed to a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor * White-collar boxing * White-collar crime The term ...

upper class Upper class in modern societies is the social class composed of people who hold the highest social status. Usually, these are the wealthiest members of class society, and wield the greatest political power. According to this view, the upper cla ...

and

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

electorate in the Hills district of northwestern

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. According to a 2022 survey by the ABC, Mitchell was the most

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

metropolitan electorate and the second-most conservative electorate in Australia after the

Division of Maranoa The Division of Maranoa is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in Queensland. Maranoa extends across the Outback, Southern Outback and is Social conservatism, socially conservative. It is the ...

History

The division is named after Major Thomas Mitchell,

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

and

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

who was the first European to explore large areas of New South Wales and

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 11 May 1949, and was first contested at the 1949 federal election. The majority of the electorate is fairly conservative, and it has been a safe seat for the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia (LP) is the prominent centre-right political party in Australia. It is considered one of the two major parties in Australian politics, the other being the Australian Labor Party (ALP). The Liberal Party was fo ...

for most of its existence.

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

has won it twice, for one term each. Labor last won it in

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

in the swing that brought

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...

to power. However, proving this seat's conservative nature, the Liberals took it back in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

and have held it without serious difficulty since then. A 1984 redistribution cut out

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

and the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River (Dharug language, Dharug: Dyarubbin) is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle ...

area, making this already safely conservative seat even more so. The current Member for Mitchell, since the 2007 federal election, is Liberal

. 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 Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

, and share that LGA's

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

tendencies. These areas have been won by Labor at high-tide elections such as at the 2007 federal election. After the

2013 federal election The 2013 Australian federal election to elect the members of the 44th Parliament of Australia took place on Saturday, 7 September 2013. The centre-right Liberal/National Coalition opposition led by Opposition leader Tony Abbott of the Liberal ...

, Mitchell replaced nearby Bradfield as the safest

Coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

seat in metropolitan Australia, with Labor needing a 22-point swing to win it. As of the 2019 federal election, it is the second-safest metropolitan Coalition seat, behind

Cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

, with an 18.6-point swing needed for Labor to win it.

Geography

The division is located in the Hills District of

, and includes the entire suburbs of

Baulkham Hills Baulkham Hills (;) is a suburb in the Hills District, New South Wales, Hills District of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located within north-west of the Sydney central business district mostly within the Loca ...

Beaumont Hills Beaumont Hills is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 40 kilometres north west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of The Hills Shire. Beaumont Hills is part of the Greater Western Syd ...

, Bella Vista, Norwest, Kellyville, North Kellyville and Winston Hills. The division also includes parts of Castle Hill, Glenhaven,

North Rocks North Rocks is a suburb straddling the Hills District and the North Shore of Parramatta within Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, located north-west of the Sydney central business district. Following the am ...

Northmead Northmead is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Northmead is located 26 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Northmead is ...

Old Toongabbie Old Toongabbie is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Old Toongabbie is noted for bei ...

Rouse Hill Rouse Hill () is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Rouse Hill is located in the Hills District, 43 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and 19 kilometres north-west of the Parramatta cent ...

, and

West Pennant Hills West Pennant Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. West Pennant Hills is located 21 km northwest of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and Hornsby ...

. Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the

Australian Electoral Commission The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent statutory agency of the Australian Government responsible for the management and oversight of Australian federal elections, plebiscites, referendums and some trade union A ...

. 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.

Members

Election results

References

External links

Division of Mitchell - Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Division of Electoral divisions of Australia Electoral divisions of Australia in New South Wales Constituencies established in 1949 1949 establishments in Australia