The Division of Darling was an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. From 1901 until 1922 it was based on Bourke

Bourke, New South Wales

-Transportation:Bourke can be reached by the Mitchell Highway, with additional sealed roads from town to the north , east and south . The town is also served by Bourke Airport and has Countrylink bus service to other regional centres, like Dubbo...

, Cobar

Cobar, New South Wales

-Notable people:*Nik Kosef, former rugby league player for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, 1996 premiership player, NSW & Australia representative*Ernie Toshack, cricketer, member of Bradman's Invincibles* Jemma Heather, state representative 4 times....

, Nyngan

Nyngan, New South Wales

Nyngan [pr: ning-g'n] is a town in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. It is located in the Bogan Shire Local Government Area. At the 2006 census, Nyngan had a population of 1,975 people. Nyngan is situated on the Bogan River between Narromine and Bourke, on the junction of the...

, Coonamble

Coonamble, New South Wales

Coonamble is a town on the central-western plains of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the Castlereagh Highway north-west of Gilgandra. At the 2006 census, Coonamble had a population of 2,549...

 and Gilgandra

Gilgandra, New South Wales

Gilgandra, is a town and Local Government Area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the junction of the Newell Highway, Oxley Highway and Castlereagh Highway. It can be reached in about six hours by car from Sydney. Like Coonabarabran, Gilgandra can be...

. From 1906 it also included Dubbo. The 1922 redistribution increased the number of voters in some rural electorates and as a result the division of Barrier

Division of Barrier

The Division of Barrier was an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election. It was named for the Barrier Range near the city of Broken Hill in western New South Wales...

 was abolished with most of its population, including the large mining town of Broken Hill

Broken Hill, New South Wales

-Geology:Broken Hill's massive orebody, which formed about 1,800 million years ago, has proved to be among the world's largest silver-lead-zinc mineral deposits. The orebody is shaped like a boomerang plunging into the earth at its ends and outcropping in the centre. The protruding tip of the...

, Wentworth

Wentworth, New South Wales

Wentworth is a small border town in the far south west of the state of New South Wales, Australia. It lies at the confluence of Australia's two most important rivers, the Darling and the Murray, the latter forming the border with the state of Victoria to the south. The border with the state of...

 and Balranald

Balranald, New South Wales

Balranald is a town and local government area in the Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census the population was 1,216....

, was absorbed by Darling along with Hay

Hay, New South Wales

Hay is a town in the western Riverina region of south western New South Wales , Australia.  It is the administrative centre of Hay Shire Local Government Area and the centre of a prosperous and productive agricultural district on the wide Hay Plains....

 from Riverina

Division of Riverina

The Division of Riverina is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in south-west rural New South Wales, generally following the Murrumbidgee River valley. It includes the cities of Wagga Wagga and Griffith as well as the towns of Junee, West Wyalong, Tumut,...

. Dubbo was transferred to Gwydir

Division of Gwydir

The Division of Gwydir was an Australian Electoral Division in New South Wales. The division was created in 1900 and was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...

 in 1922 but returned to Darling in 1934. In 1948, Dubbo, Gilgandra and Coonamble were transferred to the new division of Lawson

Division of Lawson

The Division of Lawson was an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It was located in the north-west of the state, and included the towns of Coonabarabran, Dubbo and Mudgee....

 and Hay and Balranald were transferred to Riverina. In 1955 Coonamble returned to Darling. In 1977 it was abolished with Broken Hill and Wentworth going to Riverina and Bourke, Cobar, Nyngan and Coonamble going to Gwydir.

Darling was named for the Darling River

Darling River

The Darling River 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, New South Wales. Including its longest contiguous tributaries it is long, making it the longest river system in Australia.The...

. It was a safe seat for the Australian Labor Party

Australian Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 throughout its history. Its most prominent member was William Spence

William Spence

William Guthrie Spence , Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers Union, and the Australian Labor Party.-Early life:...

, one of the founders of the Labor Party and the Australian Workers Union.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	William Spence William Spence William Guthrie Spence , Australian trade union leader and politician, played a leading role in the formation of both Australia's largest union, the Australian Workers Union, and the Australian Labor Party.-Early life:...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1901–1916
		Nationalist Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime...	1916–1917
	Arthur Blakeley Arthur Blakeley Arthur Blakeley was an Australian politician.Blakeley was born in Gilberton, South Australia, and was educated at North Broken Hill Convent School. He left school at 13 to work in the local mining camps...	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1917 Australian federal election, 1917 Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 May 1917. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election... –1934
	Joe Clark Joe Clark (Australian politician) Joseph "Joe" James Clark, CBE was an Australian politician, serving in the Australian House of Representatives as the Member for Darling from 15 September 1934 to 29 September 1969, a term of making him one of the longest-serving members of the House of Representatives.Clark's father was Joseph...	Lang Labor Australian Labor Party (NSW) The Australian Labor Party , commonly known as Lang Labor, was the name given to a major breakaway of the Australian Labor Party in New South Wales that operated from 1931 to 1936....	1934 Australian federal election, 1934 Federal elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons with coalition partner the Country Party led... –1936
		Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1936–1969
	John FitzPatrick	Labor Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1969 Australian federal election, 1969 Federal elections were held in Australia on 25 October 1969. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia John Gorton with coalition partner the Country Party led by John McEwen defeated the Australian... –1977