Division of Newcastle

The Division of Newcastle is a Federal Electoral Division for the Australian House of Representatives in the state of New South Wales. The Division is centred around the city of Newcastle, after which it is named.

Newcastle Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Newcastle (green) in New South Wales
Created	1901
MP	Sharon Claydon
Party	Labor
Namesake	Newcastle, New South Wales
Area	354 km2 (136.7 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial

The Division was one of the original 75 divisions set up for the first Federal election in 1901. It has been held by the Australian Labor Party since it was created. Labor has never got less than 58 percent of the two-party vote in a general election. It has only come close to losing it once, when it got 53 percent in a 1935 by-election. It is the only original Division to be held by just one party since the first Federal election.

Members

The Division of Newcastle has had just five members since 1901. This is the fewest of any of the original Divisions. From 1901 to 1958, the seat was held by the Watkins family. David Oliver took over from his father David in 1935. Allan Morris' brother, Peter was also in the Federal Parliament, representing the Division of Shortland. Charles Jones' brother, Sam, was in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly.

Member		Party	Term
	David Watkins	Labor	1901–1935
	David Oliver Watkins	Labor	1935–1958
	Charles Jones	Labor	1958–1983
	Allan Morris	Labor	1983–2001
	Sharon Grierson	Labor	2001–2013 (retired)
	Sharon Clayson	Labor	2013–present

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Newcastle
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Sharon Claydon	46,551	44.07	−1.66
	Liberal	Katrina Wark	25,816	24.44	−4.77
	Greens	Charlotte McCabe	21,195	20.07	+4.51
	One Nation	Mark Watson	4,757	4.50	+4.50
	Animal Justice	Emily Brollo	2,549	2.41	−0.79
	United Australia	Amanda Cook	2,517	2.38	−0.99
	Informed Medical Options	William Hussey	1,140	1.08	+1.08
	Australian Federation	Garth Pywell	1,102	1.04	+1.04
Total formal votes			105,627	94.59	+0.10
Informal votes			6,038	5.41	−0.10
Turnout			111,665	91.19	−1.53
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Sharon Claydon	71,807	67.98	+4.15
	Liberal	Katrina Wark	33,820	32.02	−4.15
	Labor hold		Swing	+4.15

Division Of Newcastle Media

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  The city of Newcastle, the division's namesake

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  David Watkins - T. Humphrey & Co. (cropped)

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  David Oliver Watkins

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  A 1967 black and white portrait of Charles Jones, MHR for Newcastle

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  Senator Sharon Claydon at online meeting of the Joint Select Committee - Implementation of the National Redress Scheme - 22 January 2021

References

• Division of Newcastle - Australian Electoral Commission

Other websites

• Sharon Claydon's website