Electoral district of Wagga Wagga

Wagga Wagga is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. The district has been held by Independent MP Joe McGirr since the September 2018 by-election.

Wagga Wagga New South Wales—Legislative Assembly
Interactive map of district boundaries from the 2023 state election
State	New South Wales
Dates current	1894–1904 1913–1920 1927–present
MP	Joe McGirr
Party	Independent
Namesake	Wagga Wagga
Electors	55,688 (2019)
Area	12,108.11 km^2 (4,675.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Provincial and rural
Electorates around Wagga Wagga: Cootamundra Cootamundra Goulburn Albury Wagga Wagga Australian Capital Territory Albury Albury Monaro

Wagga Wagga is a regional electorate. It entirely covers two local government areas: the City of Wagga Wagga and Lockhart Shire. It also covers part of the Snowy Valleys Council, which was established following the merger of Tumut Shire and Tumbarumba Shire.^[1]

History

Wagga Wagga was created in 1894. In 1920, Wagga Wagga, Albury and Corowa was absorbed into Murray and elected three members under proportional representation. When proportional representation was replaced by single-member electorates in 1927, Wagga Wagga was recreated, with Matthew Kilpatrick, the Country Party candidate, winning the October election. According to the Wagga Daily Advertiser, it was a decisive vote against the continuance of the Labor government led by Jack Lang.^[2]

Labor regained the seat in its 1941 landslide, holding it until the Liberals took it back in 1957. It remained safely Liberal for most of the last half-century, despite being located in the midst of an area considered Country/ National heartland. This tradition was broken in 2018, when longtime Liberal member Daryl Maguire was forced out of politics due to a corruption scandal. At the ensuring by-election, the Liberal primary vote almost halved, allowing independent Joe McGirr to take the seat on 59.6 percent of the two-candidate vote. Although Labor was knocked down to third place on the primary vote, the swing against the Liberals was large enough to make Wagga Wagga a notional Labor seat in a "traditional" two-party matchup with the Liberals.

McGirr retained the seat with an increased majority at the 2019 state election, with the Liberals standing down in favour of the Nationals. Unlike the preceding by-election, the National candidate won the notional "traditional" two-party matchup with Labor.

Members for Wagga Wagga

First incarnation (1894–1904)
Member		Party	Term
	James Gormly ^[3]	Protectionist	1894–1901
		Progressive	1901–1904
Second incarnation (1913–1920)
Member		Party	Term
	Walter Boston ^[4]	Labor	1913–1917
	George Beeby ^[5]	Nationalist	1917–1920
Third incarnation (1927–present)
Member		Party	Term
	Matthew Kilpatrick ^[6]	Country	1927–1941
	Eddie Graham ^[7]	Labor	1941–1957
	Wal Fife ^[8]	Liberal	1957–1975
	Joe Schipp ^[9]	Liberal	1975–1999
	Daryl Maguire ^[10]	Liberal	1999–2018
	Joe McGirr ^[11]	Independent	2018–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Wagga Wagga

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2023 New South Wales state election (Legislative Assembly) § Wagga Wagga.[edit]

2023 New South Wales state election: Wagga Wagga^[12][13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Joe McGirr	21,783	44.2	−1.9
	National	Andrianna Benjamin	7,267	14.7	−11.3
	Labor	Keryn Foley	6,729	13.6	−1.1
	Liberal	Julia Ham	6,526	13.2	+13.2
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	Christopher Smith	3,777	7.7	−1.1
	Greens	Ray Goodlass	2,764	5.6	+2.8
	Public Education	Raymond Gentles	464	0.9	+0.9
Total formal votes			49,310	96.6	−0.2
Informal votes			1,721	3.4	+0.2
Turnout			51,031	88.9	−1.5
Notional two-party-preferred count
	National	Andrianna Benjamin	16,287	56.2	−1.3
	Labor	Keryn Foley	12,719	43.8	+1.3
Two-candidate-preferred result
	Independent	Joe McGirr	28,435	72.4	+6.9
	National	Andrianna Benjamin	10,847	27.6	−6.9
	Independent hold		Swing	+6.9

References

1. "Wagga Wagga". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
2. "Kilpatrick Wins Easily". Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW). 10 October 1927. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
3. "Mr James Gormly (1836-1922)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
4. "Mr Walter James Boston (1874–1968)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
5. "Sir George Stephenson Beeby (1869–1942)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
6. "Mr Matthew Kilpatrick (1875–1949)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
7. "The Hon. Edgar Hugh Graham (1897-1957)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
8. "The Hon. Wallace Clyde Fife (1929–2017)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
9. "The Hon. Joseph John Schipp (1932-2017)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
10. "Mr Daryl William Maguire (1959 - )". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
11. "Dr (Joe) Joseph Gregory McGirr MP". Members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 28 October 2019.
12. LA First Preference: Wagga Wagga, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
13. LA Two Candidate Preferred: Wagga Wagga, NSW State Election Results 2023, NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 13 April 2023.