NAT 15.9%
Incumbent MP
Andrew Stoner, since 1999.
Geography
Mid-North Coast of NSW. Oxley covers all of Kempsey and Nambucca councils, most of Bellingen, and parts of Port Macquarie-Hastings, Greater Taree, Armidale Dumaresq and Walcha councils. The main towns in the seat are Kempsey, Nambucca Heads, Wauchope and Bellingen.
History
The electoral district of Oxley has existed since 1920, with the exception of the 1988 election. It was a three-member district from 1920 to 1927, and since then has been a single-member district. It has been held by the Country/National Party continuously since 1965.
Independent candidate George Mitchell won the seat of Oxley in 1941, defeating the sitting United Australia Party MP in an election where the conservative government was swept aside, to be replaced by 24 years of Labor rule.
Mitchell spent much of the next term on active military service in the Second World War. At the 1944 election, the major parties did not stand official candidates against him, but an independent Country Party candidate, Les Jordan, defeated Mitchell, and then joined the Country Party caucus.
Jordan was re-elected five times for the Country Party, but after the 1959 election he switched from the Country Party to the Liberal Party. He was re-elected as a Liberal in 1962 and 1965, and died in office later in 1965.
The 1965 by-election was won by Bruce Cowan, also of the Country Party. He served as a minister from 1975 to 1976. In 1980 he resigned to run for the federal seat of Lyne, which he won in a three-cornered contest. He held the federal seat until his retirement in 1993.
Peter King won the 1981 Oxley by-election for the National Country Party. Later in the year, however, the redistribution abolished the neighbouring seat of Raleigh, and that seat’s MP, Jim Brown, challenged King for preselection in Oxley, and King retired.
Brown had held the seat of Raleigh since 1959. He held Oxley for one term, retiring in 1984.
Bruce Jeffery won Oxley for the National Party in 1984. The 1988 redistribution abolished the seat of Oxley, and created the seat of Port Macquarie. Jeffery contested and won the new seat. In 1991, Oxley was again restored, and Jeffery returned to his original seat, with the sitting Member for Manning moving to Port Macquarie.
Jeffery retired in 1999, when he was succeeded by Andrew Stoner. Stoner was elected National Party leader following the 2003 election.
Candidates
- Andrew Stoner (Nationals)
- Joe Blackshield (Labor)
- John Klose (Christian Democratic Party)
- Richard McGovern (Independent)
- Marcus Aussie-Stone (Independent)
- Jeremy Bradley (Greens)
Political situation
Oxley is a safe Nationals seat.
2007 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Andrew Stoner | NAT | 24,750 | 59.1 | +8.0 |
| Stuart Holmes | ALP | 10,452 | 25.0 | -5.9 |
| Gabrielle Tindall | GRN | 4,480 | 10.7 | +1.0 |
| Brian Gardyne | AAFI | 1,265 | 3.0 | +3.0 |
| Sherry Stumm | DEM | 929 | 2.2 | +2.2 |
2007 two-candidate-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing |
| Andrew Stoner | NAT | 25,657 | 65.9 | +6.0 |
| Stuart Holmes | ALP | 13,261 | 34.1 | -6.0 |
Booth breakdown
Booths in Oxley have been divided into four areas. Booths in Kempsey, Nambucca and Bellingen council areas have each been grouped together, while those in Port Macquarie-Hastings and Greater Taree council areas have been grouped as “South”, bearing in mind that neither Port Macquarie or Taree is in the seat of Oxley.
The National Party’s two-party preferred vote varied from 73% in the south to 55% in Bellingen, and polling in the mid-60s in Kempsey and Nambucca. The Greens polled over 26% in Bellingen, outpolling Labor on primary votes.
| Voter group | GRN % | NAT 2CP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Kempsey | 7.4 | 66.9 | 13,982 | 33.4 |
| Nambucca | 10.2 | 64.2 | 9,671 | 23.1 |
| South | 8.5 | 73.3 | 6,657 | 15.9 |
| Bellingen | 26.2 | 55.3 | 3,905 | 9.3 |
| Other votes | 11.4 | 71.0 | 7,661 | 18.3 |
What’s that tiny booth in the south where the Greens got a primary vote of 54%? That’s got to be one of their highest in the state and almost as high as their primary vote gets in the Newtown booths in the District of Marrickville. Do you suppose that’s where Gabrielle Tindall (the Greens candidate) lived?
That would be the village of Elands, home of veteran activist Susie Russell. It vies with the Byron Shire hinterland booths as one of the Greens’ best in Australia, and topped the list at the 2007 federal election.
Gabrielle (2007 Greens candidate) is from the Bellingen area. Jeremy Bradley lives near Wauchope, as do the Nationals and independent candidates, so it will be interesting to watch the Greens vote in “Timbertown”.
My prediction: National retain, 5-10% swing.
Stoner wants Daylight Savings reviewed.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/11/3161639.htm
Hmm.
Well he’s the Nationals leader, does anyone expect otherwise? :p
What does AAFI stand for?. I have moved from a safe Liberal seat in Victoria to a safe Nationals seat in NSW. I guess you can’t have everything
Australians Against Further Immigration.
Marcus Aussie-Stone has nominated here this time. He’s apparently contested 19 elections, and nominated in 8 different electorates in 1975, a practice no longer permitted.
It’s a shame Stoner doesn’t face a challenge from a really high profile independent. I reckon he’d be vulnerable if he did – maybe next time. McGovern unlikely to have much impact although he’s been campaigning for about a year now.
NSW State Election hooh hah is done. I comment to my wannabee critics because I am an Independent Candidates, standing for the development of Regional Australia, by Aussies, for Aussies, using Aussie made products, and labour, and selling all visitors, the best Aussie rural arts, and products. I need your best write ups to support my persistent Candidacies, 20 Federally, and 2 State. I stand to shake voters to vote in the best minds as their MP. The’ve changed the Electoral Act, Rules, 4 times to block my Candidacies being too successful. They’ve blocked my name change putting me 1st on Ballot paper, my standing in 8, 1% swing seats in the same election, my standing in Senate and House of Reps at same time, and then nominating myself as a Candidate. But still the voters vote for me and I have no national media support, good local media support, no posters, staff or how to vote cards. Some election soon The Voters will vote me into Parliament and then, all Rural folk together, we will get the Nationals back on track.
Marc,
You’ve stood in a number of different seats over the years, haven’t you?
As long as you settle in someplace and get yourself known to as many people as possible, you can rattle the odd cage.
No harm in throwing your hat in the ring – that’s what democracy is.
Hi Warren,
Our project has a National Development vision and I have to go where the non interested Political leaders stand.
However you are absolutely right and we need to keep the debate going with all of our politicians as Australia’s competitive and economic base in the world continues to shrink.
Did you see the recent Dick smith TV Show where he filmed a suburban house with its two occupants and then took out everything that wasn’t made in Australia. In the end the two occupants were standing with a hanky to cover their private parts and the room was empty.
Depending on the mineral exports to prop up Australia forever does not make much sense to me.
You can see some more of what I am on about regarding rural tourism being a great new job creating, rural area sustaining hope for the future, if your go to: http://www.pigswillfly.com.au/?p=1689.
And every time the Australian government allows a foreign takeover of our resources, that could deliver a continuing income stream to benefit the Australian people for may’be 50 + years , we gain a quick profit equal to 5 to 10 times earnings and after that it is lost forever. So progressively Australia is being white anted by foreign interests and our pollies are letting it happen.