Bourke was an

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

of the Legislative Assembly in the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n state of

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 ...

from 1880 to 1904, including the towns of Bourke and

Cobar Cobar is a town in Outback New South Wales, Australia, whose economy is based mainly upon base metals and gold mining. The town is by road northwest of the state capital, Sydney. It is at the crossroads of the Kidman Way and Barrier Highwa ...

. It elected two members simultaneously between 1882 and 1889 increasing to three members until 1894, with each elector being able to vote for as many candidates as there were vacancies.

History

Bourke was created in 1880, one of 23 new districts, established under the ''Electoral Act'' 1880 (NSW). which was the first major redistribution since 1858. The district was formed from parts of The Bogan,

Balranald Balranald is a town within the Local government in Australia, local government area of Balranald Shire, in the Murray (New South Wales), Murray region of far south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town of Balranald is located where the ...

and included the major towns of Bourke and Cobar. It included the pastoral district of Warrego as well as parts of the pastoral districts of Bligh,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and Albert. It did not include any part of the Bourke County which was in The Murrumbidgee. Bourke was a key agricultural trading hub, owing to its position as a port on the

Darling River The Darling River (or River Darling; Paakantyi: ''Baaka'' or ''Barka''), is the third-longest river in Australia, measuring from its source in northern New South Wales to its confluence with the Murray River at Wentworth. Including its long ...

, while Cobar's economy was centered around copper mining. At its establishment in 1880 Bourke had the largest number of enrolled voters per seat with 3,478 voters returning a single member, compared with the state average of 1,549 for a country seat and 2,361 for an urban one, The ''Electoral Act'' 1880 provided that a district would return a second member if the electoral roll reached 3,000, a third member upon reaching 5,000 and a fourth member on reaching 8,000. Bourke returned a second member from the 1882 election, and a third member from the 1889 election. When multi-member constituencies were abolished in 1894, Bourke was reduced in size and parts were given to the new districts of

and The Barwon. The district was abolished in 1904 as a result of the

1903 New South Wales referendum A referendum concerning the reduction of the members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly was put to voters on 16 December 1903, in conjunction with the 1903 federal election. The referendum was conducted on the basis of optional preferen ...

, which reduced the number of members of the Legislative Assembly from 125 to 90. Bourke was absorbed by the new district of The Darling, along with parts of The Barwon and

Wilcannia Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th c ...

Members for Bourke

Election results

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourke Former electoral districts of New South Wales Constituencies established in 1880 Constituencies disestablished in 1904 1880 establishments in Australia 1904 disestablishments in Australia