Division of Calare

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.^[1]

The division has always been located in the state's Central West since the division was created in 1906. At the time, it replaced the abolished divisions of Canobolas and Bland. Canobolas formed the northern three-quarters of the new division, while the southern one-quarter was formed from parts of Bland.^[2][3] At the time, the new division covered Forbes and Parkes, and stopped short of Wellington, Dubbo and Orange.^[4]

In 1913, it lost the former Bland areas in the south to the divisions of Riverina and Werriwa.^[5][6] However, it also gained Wellington and Orange from the divisions of Robertson and Macquarie respectively.^[7][8] From then until 1977, the division has roughly covered a similar area that included Parkes, Forbes and Orange, with some gains and losses during redistributions. It briefly included Mudgee between 1968 and 1977.^[4]

The division's first significant change to its boundaries was in 1977, when it was massively expanded eastwards to include Bathurst and Lithgow. It also lost Forbes which it had covered since the creation of the division. The division had another significant change to its boundaries in 1984, when the division lost its western half west of Orange, including Parkes which it had also covered since the creation of the division. It also lost areas south of Bathurst. Instead, the division gained areas to the north, including Mudgee which it lost seven years prior. In 1992, the division lost these northern gains, and regained areas west of Orange and south of Bathurst.^[4]

In 2006, the division had another significant change to its boundaries. It was massively expanded to the west and north up to the Queensland boundary, onto areas previously covered by the divisions of Parkes and Gwydir (abolished).^[9][10] The expansion made Calare New South Wales's largest electorate. It had regained Parkes and Forbes, but also lost Bathurst and Lithgow at the same time. This expansion was short-lived and was mostly reversed in 2009, with most of these areas ceded back to the Division of Parkes. Calare managed to retain Parkes and Forbes, and also regained Bathurst and Lithgow. In 2016, the division regained areas to the north such as Wellington and Mudgee, and lost areas to the west again such as Parkes and Forbes. It did not undergo a boundary change in the 2024 redistribution.^[4]

Since 2016, the division covers the entirety of the local government areas of Bathurst Regional Council, Blayney Shire, Cabonne Council, City of Lithgow, Mid-Western Regional Council, Oberon Council and City of Orange, as well as the southern part of Dubbo Regional Council.^[11] It stretches from Mudgee, Gulgong, Wellington in the north-west, to Orange, Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon in the south-east and Canowindra in the south-west.^[4]

The division has always included Orange within its boundaries since 1913. Despite coming close to Dubbo, especially between 1934 and 1948 when the division was at the edge of Dubbo, it had never included Dubbo in its boundaries throughout the division's history.^[4]

The division was first contested at the 1906 election, created to replace the abolished Division of Canobolas, and to a smaller extent, the abolished Division of Bland. The division is named for the local Aboriginal name for the Lachlan River, which runs through the western part of the division. The Aboriginal name is pronounced Kal-ah-ree, but the pronunciation Kul-air is established for the division.

The division originally encompassed Forbes and Parkes. Subsequent boundary changes moved it eastwards to encompass Orange, Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon. On these boundaries it was notionally a marginal seat between the Australian Labor Party (which held it 1983–96) and the National Party, but it was held comfortably by an independent, Peter Andren, from 1996 to 2007. Andren was not a candidate for the 2007 election: he intended to run for a Senate seat but was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and died during the election campaign.^[12]

A redistribution in 2006 moved the boundaries west to take in Cowra, Grenfell and the vast north-west of New South Wales from Brewarrina to Menindee, making Calare New South Wales's largest electorate.^[4] Lithgow, Bathurst and Oberon, which tend to favour Labor, were transferred to the neighbouring seat of Macquarie. At the 2007 federal election, Calare was won by the Nationals' representative John Cobb on a margin of 12.1 percent.^[13] Cobb had previously represented the Division of Parkes, parts of which were redistributed into Calare in 2006.

The 2009 redistribution of NSW moved the boundaries back east, to again include Lithgow, Bathurst and Oberon. Most of the northwestern area of the division was transferred to the neighbouring Division of Parkes.^[14][4] The changes took effect at the 2010 election.

The current Member for Calare since the 2016 federal election is Andrew Gee, who was originally elected as a member of the National Party, but was later re-elected as an independent member in the 2025 election.