Division of Riverina
The Division of Riverina is an Divisions of the [Australian House of Representatives|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 List of [Australian electorates contested at every election|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 Party|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.