Division of Riverina

Riverina
Australian House of Representatives Division
Riverina; Australian House of Representatives Division
	Interactive map of electorate boundaries
Dates current	1901–1984, 1993–present
MP	Michael McCormack
Party	Nationals
Namesake	Riverina
Electors	128,630 (2025)
Area	52,410 km2 (20,235.6 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural
	Electorates around Riverina:

The Division of Riverina (/rɪvəriːnə/)^[1] 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.

Geography

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.^[2]

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.

History

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election, although it was abolished between 1984 and 1993, so 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.

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, now in 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 which are now in Parkes. In the 1984 redistribution, the division was abolished and replaced by Riverina-Darling.

Since its re-creation in 1993, it has been a safe Nationals seat. Prior to the 2024 redistribution, it included Parkes, Forbes and West Wyalong. Since the 2024 redistribution, it has included Tumut, Yass, Tumbarumba and Crookwell.

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)

Member	Party	Term	Notes
John Chanter (1845–1931)	Protectionist	29 March 1901 – 16 December 1903	Previously held the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Deniliquin. Lost seat
Robert Blackwood (1861–1940)	Free Trade	16 December 1903 – 13 April 1904	1903 election results declared void. Lost seat in subsequent by-election
John Chanter (1845–1931)	Protectionist	18 May 1904 – 26 May 1909	Lost seat
John Chanter (1845–1931)	Labor	26 May 1909 – 31 May 1913	Lost seat
Franc Falkiner (1867–1929)	Liberal	31 May 1913 – 5 September 1914	Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Hume in 1917
John Chanter (1845–1931)	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 (1860–1939)	Country	16 December 1922 – 27 November 1931	Retired
Horace Nock (1879–1958)	Country	19 December 1931 – 21 September 1940	Lost seat
Joe Langtry (1880–1951)	Labor	21 September 1940 – 10 December 1949	Lost seat
Hugh Roberton (1900–1987)	Country	10 December 1949 – 21 January 1965	Served as minister under Menzies. Resigned to become Australian Ambassador to Ireland
Bill Armstrong (1909–1982)	Country	27 February 1965 – 25 October 1969	Lost seat
Al Grassby (1926–2005)	Labor	25 October 1969 – 18 May 1974	Served as minister under Whitlam. Lost seat
John Sullivan (1929–)	Country	18 May 1974 – 2 May 1975	Lost seat. Later elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly seat of Sturt in 1981
John Sullivan (1929–)	National Country	2 May 1975 – 10 December 1977
John FitzPatrick (1915–1997)	Labor	10 December 1977 – 19 September 1980	Previously held the Division of Darling. Retired
Noel Hicks (1940–)	National Country	18 October 1980 – 16 October 1982	Transferred to the Division of Riverina-Darling after Riverina was abolished in 1984
Noel Hicks (1940–)	Nationals	16 October 1982 – 1 December 1984

Second incarnation (1993–present)

Member	Party	Term	Notes
Noel Hicks (1940–)	Nationals	13 March 1993 – 31 August 1998	Previously held the Division of Riverina-Darling. Retired
Kay Hull (1954–)		3 October 1998 – 19 July 2010	Retired
Michael McCormack (1964–)		21 August 2010 – present	Served as minister and Deputy Prime Minister under Turnbull and Morrison. Incumbent

Election results

2025 Australian federal election: Riverina^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Michael McCormack	42,678	40.32	+5.93
	Labor	Mark Jeffreson	19,506	18.43	−6.50
	One Nation	Mark Craig	10,427	9.85	+2.50
	Independent	Jenny Rolfe	6,909	6.53	+6.53
	Independent	James Gooden	5,080	4.80	+4.80
	Greens	Pheonix Valxori	4,767	4.50	−2.24
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	Desiree Gregory	4,217	3.98	−0.09
	Libertarian	Christine Onley	2,338	2.21	−3.53
	Citizens	Richard Foley	2,233	2.11	+2.11
	Family First	Mark Burge	2,151	2.03	+2.03
	Independent	Grant Hardwick	1,861	1.76	+1.76
	Independent	Barbara Baikie	1,858	1.76	+1.76
	Independent	Jake Davis	1,812	1.71	+1.71
Total formal votes			105,837	88.73	−4.21
Informal votes			13,442	11.27	+4.21
Turnout			119,280	92.80	+1.11
Two-party-preferred result
	National	Michael McCormack	66,277	62.62	+2.91
	Labor	Mark Jeffreson	39,560	37.38	−2.91
	National hold		Swing	+2.91

Results are not final. Last updated on 2 June 2025 at 2:45 PM AEST.

References

^ Macquarie Dictionary (4 ed.). Macquarie Library. 2005. ISBN 1-876429-14-3.
^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
^ Riverina, NSW, 2025 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links

Division of Riverina – Australian Electoral Commission

34°25′37″S 146°42′00″E / 34.427°S 146.700°E / -34.427; 146.700

[1] Macquarie Dictionary (4 ed.). Macquarie Library. 2005. ISBN 1-876429-14-3.

[2] Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

[3] Riverina, NSW, 2025 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Electoral divisions of the Australian House of Representatives in New South Wales
Labor (28)	Banks Barton Bennelong Blaxland Chifley Cunningham Dobell Eden-Monaro Gilmore Grayndler Greenway Hughes Hunter Kingsford Smith Macarthur Macquarie McMahon Newcastle Parramatta Paterson Reid Richmond Robertson Shortland Sydney Watson Werriwa Whitlam
Liberal (6)	Berowra Cook Farrer Hume Lindsay Mitchell
National (6)	Cowper Lyne New England Page Parkes Riverina
Independent (6)	Bradfield Calare Fowler Mackellar Warringah Wentworth
Abolished	Barrier Bland Canobolas Charlton Cook (1906–1955) Dalley Darling Dundas East Sydney Evans Gwydir Illawarra Lang Lawson Lowe Martin Nepean North Sydney Parkes (1901–1969) Phillip Prospect Riverina-Darling St George South Sydney Throsby Watson (1934–1969) West Sydney
Divisions in: New South Wales Victoria Queensland Western Australia South Australia Tasmania ACT and NT