LIB 16.4%
Incumbent MP
Sussan Ley, since 2001.
Geography
Farrer covers a great expanse of southwestern NSW. The seat covers most of the NSW-Victorian border, stretching from the Greater Hume area around Albury all the way along the Murray River, and further north to cover areas along the Murrumbidgee River. Main towns include Albury, Griffith, Leeton, Deniliquin and Corowa.
History
Farrer was created at the 1949 election as part of the expansion of the House of Representatives. In its time it has always been held by conservative parties, primarily the Liberal Party, although it was held by the Nationals from 1984 until 2001.
The seat was first won in 1949 by Liberal candidate David Fairbairn. He was included in the Menzies ministry from 1962 until 1969, when he challenged John Gorton for the leadership and moved to the backbench. He returned to cabinet for one year in 1971 after William McMahon became Prime Minister, and retired from Parliament in 1975.
He was succeeded by Wal Fife, who had been a minister in the Liberal state government of New South Wales since 1967. Fife went on to serve as a minister in the Fraser government from 1977 until its defeat in 1983. He moved to the seat of Hume following the 1984 redistribution, which had moved Wagga Wagga from Farrer into Hume, and he retired in 1993.
The seat was won in a three-cornered contest in 1984 by Nationals state MP Tim Fischer, with the Liberal coming third. Fischer became leader of the National Party in 1990 after then-leader Charles Blunt lost his seat.
Fischer went on to serve as Deputy Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999, retiring at the 2001 election. Another three-cornered contest in 2001 saw the Liberal Party’s Sussan Ley win the seat back from the Nationals.
Sussan Ley has been re-elected seven times. She served as Minister for Health from 2014 until 2017, and as Minister for the Environment from 2019 to 2022. She was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party after the party lost power in 2022.
Assessment
Farrer is a safe Liberal seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Sussan Ley | Liberal | 52,566 | 52.3 | +1.6 |
| Darren Cameron | Labor | 19,097 | 19.0 | +4.4 |
| Eli Davern | Greens | 9,163 | 9.1 | +4.5 |
| Richard Francis | One Nation | 6,363 | 6.3 | +6.3 |
| Paul Britton | Shooters, Fishers and Farmers | 5,339 | 5.3 | +5.3 |
| Julie Ramos | United Australia | 3,270 | 3.3 | -1.0 |
| Amanda Duncan-Strelec | Independent | 3,189 | 3.2 | +3.2 |
| Ian Roworth | Liberal Democrats | 1,595 | 1.6 | +0.5 |
| Informal | 8,256 | 7.6 | -1.5 |
2022 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Sussan Ley | Liberal | 66,739 | 66.4 | -3.5 |
| Darren Cameron | Labor | 33,843 | 33.6 | +3.5 |
Booths have been divided into seven parts. Polling places in the towns of Albury, Griffith and Deniliquin have been grouped together, and the remainder of the seat’s population has been split into north-east, north-west, south-east and south-west.
The Liberal Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all seven areas, ranging from 55.4% in Albury to 74.8% in the north-west.
The Greens came third, with 18.6% in Albury and less than 7% elsewhere.
| Voter group | GRN prim | LIB 2PP | Total votes | % of votes |
| Albury | 18.6 | 55.4 | 13,371 | 13.3 |
| South-East | 6.1 | 70.3 | 7,813 | 7.8 |
| South-West | 3.8 | 74.3 | 7,386 | 7.3 |
| Griffith | 6.6 | 70.1 | 7,327 | 7.3 |
| North-East | 5.4 | 67.4 | 6,300 | 6.3 |
| North-West | 4.2 | 74.8 | 3,976 | 4.0 |
| Deniliquin | 4.9 | 66.5 | 1,607 | 1.6 |
| Pre-poll | 9.5 | 65.4 | 40,978 | 40.7 |
| Other votes | 8.0 | 68.7 | 11,824 | 11.8 |
Election results in Farrer at the 2022 federal election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for the Liberal Party, Labor and the Greens.
The previous member for Groom (Ian MacFarlaine) tried to join the Nats party room but that was vetoed by the Queensland LNP, on the basis that the Liberals held it prior to the merger.
The National Party has never held Herbert, its always been a Liberal-Labor contest for the past 80 years.
Nats beating Ley here in 2028 if the coalition doesnt reform
I don’t think Sussan Ley will last the whole term as the Opposition Leader. She’s might be another Brendan Nelson with a posioned challice. Hey, I might be wrong come 2028.
totally agree @Votante i’ll be surprised if even she lasts a year personally.
Couldnt agree more @Nicholas and Nimalan! Hardline Conservative liberals should move to the Nats. Jacinta price would move back. Nats should hold seats like Herbert , Groom, O’Connor and Wright. Then we have a liberal party and a conservative party. Liberals can win back their inner city heartlands. Nats can give Liberals confidence and supply in a minority government.
The LNP have to demerge at least federally now. I assume the Nats will want to run in more seats in 2028 regardless of whether the Coalition is back and running. This would mean labor held targets like Leichhardt. Wouldnt make sense for one LNP candidate to run and then choose whether they are a Liberal or National after being elected…
Would be hilarious if Ley became the federal version of Annastacia Palaszscuk.
@Up the dragons, sounds very similar to the Reform Party of Canada which splitted off from the Progressive Conservative Party and helped Liberal Party of Canada win a comfortable majority of a decade until they remerged to back into what is now known as the Conservative Party of Canada.
Bumbalo, the only difference is that Newman was elected in a landslide initially whereas albanese only won a narrow victory before the subsequent 2025 landslide. As a result, albanese already has experience as PM and whilst he will probably be bolder in his second term, he is unlikely to go all out and aggressively target his opponents like the Newman LNP government.
Albanese in his second term would probably be like Daniel Andrews or mark McGowan in their second terms once they won landslide victories.