The Division of Lyne is an Australian electoral division located in the State of New South Wales. It lies on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales and includes parts of the Local Government Areas of the City of Greater Taree, Port Macquarie-Hastings and Kempsey Shire. Major population centres include Port Macquarie, Taree, Wauchope, Laurieton, Wingham, and parts of Kempsey.

The seat is named after Sir William Lyne, Premier of New South Wales at the time of Federation and subsequently a minister in early Australian conservative governments. William Lyne was commissioned by the first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun to form the inaugural Federal Government. He was unable to attract sufficient support to form a cabinet and returned the commission. The unsuccessful commissioning of Lyne is known as The Hopetoun Blunder.

The Division of Lyne was created in a redistribution in 1949 and has been represented by the Australian Country Party and its subsequent derivatives the National Country Party and the National Party of Australia since its inception. This reflects the area's history as a strongly conservative and rural region. The area has recently undergone significant demographic changes with the arrival of a large number of retired people and city dwellers seeking a sea-change. Despite these changes the Australian Labor Party has made little headway in increasing its vote.

In 1993, after the exclusion of minor candidates, the National's Mark Vaile led over the Liberals by only 233 votes. If 117 voters had changed their minds, the Liberal Party's John Barrett would have won the seat.

Vaile retired in July 2008 which triggered a Lyne by-election. The seat was lost to independent candidate Rob Oakeshott.

Members

Election results

Oakeshott obtained a majority of votes in every polling booth, with the exception of Dyers Crossing, receiving about two thirds of the primary vote and three quarters of the two-party vote.

References