Farrer is a large seat covering parts of southwestern NSW. The seat covers parts of New South Wales along the Murray River from Albury to the South Australian border and up to the Queensland border. Major centres include Albury, Broken Hill and Deniliquin. The seat is held by Liberal MP Sussan Ley, who won the seat off the Nationals in 2001 following the retirement of former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer.
Riverina is a Nationals seat in southwestern NSW, covering Wagga Wagga, Griffith and a number of other towns. It has been held by the Nationals for most of its history, but with the retirement of sitting MP Kay Hull in 2010, the Liberals plan to challenge the Nationals for the seat, as they did in the neighbouring seats of Hume and Farrer in 1998 and 2001. With the ALP having no chance of gaining the seat, the main contest will be between the Liberals and Nationals, and could hinge on the quality of candidates selected.
The seat of Hunter is a safe Labor electorate covering inland parts of the Hunter region. The seat covers parts of Maitland, Cessnock, Singleton, Muswellbrook and the Upper Hunter, with a majority of voters in the strongly pro-Labor area between Cessnock and Maitland. The seat is held by Joel Fitzgibbon, who was Minister for Defence in the Rudd government until his resignation in June 2009.
The seat of Parkes is one of the largest in Australia. The seat covers parts of Western NSW from Mudgee to Moree and Bourke. The seat is held by the Nationals’ Mark Coultan with a large margin. The seat was dramatically redrawn for the 2007 election to shift towards the north-west, while the recent redistribution largely reversed the changes while retaining the territory gained in 2007. The largest town in the seat is Dubbo, which makes up about one quarter of the population.
Charlton is a safe Labor seat in the lower Hunter region of New South Wales. It covers suburbs to the west of Lake Macquarie, including the towns of Morisset and Toronto, as well as suburbs north of Lake Macquarie on the fringe of Newcastle including Wallsend and Cardiff.
The seat has been held by former ACTU secretary Greg Combet since the 2007 election. Combet is now a junior minister in the Rudd government, having risen rapidly through the ministerial ranks since his election.
Shortland is a safe Labor seat lying between the Central Coast and Newcastle, covering the land between Lake Macquarie and the Pacific Ocean. The seat has been a safe Labor seat since its creation in 1949. It has been held by Jill Hall since 1998, and she should be safely re-elected in 2010. Major suburbs include Charlestown, Swansea, Belmont and Budgewoi.
New England is a large electorate covering the New England region of northern NSW. The seat covers the NSW towns of Tamworth, Armidale, Gunnedah, Glen Innes and a number of others, stretching from the Queensland border to the northern edge of the Hunter. The seat has a long tradition of being held by the Country/National Party, but has been held since 2001 by independent Tony Windsor.
Windsor was previously the state MP for Tamworth from 1991 to 2001, and the New England region has become an independent stronghold, with both state seats held by independents. Windsor holds New England with a massive majority, polling 74% of the two-party preferred vote and almost 62% of the primary vote in 2007.
Lyne is a seat covering parts of the NSW north coast, including the major centres of Port Macquarie and Taree. The seat has a long history of being held by the National Party, most recently by former Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile.
Vaile’s resignation in 2008 triggered a by-election which was won by Rob Oakeshott, independent state member for Port Macquarie, who won almost 74% of the two-candidate-preferred vote.
Throsby is a safe Labor seat covering parts of the southern Illawarra and the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. The seat covers Dapto, Port Kembla, Albion Park and other suburbs around Illawarra, as well as those parts of the Southern Highlands east of the Hume Highway, including Bowral, Berrima, Mittagong and Moss Vale.
Prior to the 2009 redistribution, Throsby was a very safe Labor seat solely covering parts of the Illawarra. Its expansion into the strongly pro-Liberal areas in Wingecarribee Shire have reduced the ALP’s margin, but it still stands at a strong 16.5%, locking up Liberal areas in a safe Labor seat while making the neighbouring seats of Gilmore and Hume much more competitive for the ALP.
The seat has been held by Jennie George since 2001. George is retiring in 2010, and the seat is expected to be won by CPSU national secretary Stephen Jones, running for the ALP.
Cunningham is a Labor seat covering northern suburbs of Wollongong and sparsely populated southern parts of the Sutherland Shire. Cunningham covers the Wollongong CBD and northern suburbs including Bulli, Austinmer, Thirroul, Fairy Meadow, and Helensburgh.
Cunningham has been won by the ALP at every federal election since its creation in 1949, although it was a key electorate in the early 2000s, when it was won by the Greens at a 2002 by-election, when local Labor preselection battles and disillusionment with federal Labor leader Simon Crean and the looming war in Iraq. The seat was won back by Labor candidate Sharon Bird in 2004, but remains one of the strongest areas for the Greens outside of inner-city Sydney and Melbourne.