Division of Nicholls

Nicholls Australian House of Representatives Division
Location of Nicholls (dark green) in Victoria, Australia
Created	2019
MP	Sam Birrell
Party	Nationals
Namesake	Sir Douglas Nicholls Lady Gladys Nicholls
Electors	114,542 (2022)
Area	14,773 km2 (5,703.9 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural and provincial

The Division of Nicholls is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Victoria, which was contested for the first time at the 2019 federal election.

Federal electoral division boundaries in Australia are 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 is named in honour of Sir Douglas and Lady Gladys Nicholls, in recognition of their contributions to the advocacy of Aboriginal rights.

The Division of Nicholls was created in 2019 after the Australian Electoral Commission oversaw a mandatory redistribution of divisions in Victoria.^[2] Nicholls replaced the Division of Murray in the same location. It is located in the north of the state, adjoining the Murray River, which forms Victoria's border with New South Wales and includes the towns of Shepparton, Yarrawonga, Seymour, Echuca and Broadford.^[3]

Prior to the 2019 election the seat was notionally held by the National Party on a margin of 22.3%, making it a very safe seat for the party.^[4] Its predecessor had been safely conservative for nearly its entire existence since its creation in 1949, with the Liberal Party and the National Party holding it for long spells. Indeed, much of this region has been held by a conservative party since Federation; the area was part of the Division of Echuca from 1901 to 1937, then Indi from 1937 to 1949.

The final member for Murray, Damian Drum of the Nationals, followed most of his constituents into Nicholls and easily retained it, albeit with a small swing against him.

	Image	Member	Party	Term	Notes
		Damian Drum (1960–)	Nationals	18 May 2019 – 11 April 2022	Previously held the Division of Murray. Retired
		Sam Birrell (1975–)		21 May 2022 – present	Incumbent

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in Victoria § Nicholls.[edit]

2022 Australian federal election: Nicholls^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Sam Birrell	24,886	26.14	−25.13
	Independent	Rob Priestly	24,287	25.51	+25.51
	Liberal	Steve Brooks	17,187	18.06	+18.06
	Labor	Bill Lodwick	10,970	11.52	−7.89
	One Nation	Rikkie-Lee Tyrrell	6,219	6.53	−4.76
	United Australia	Robert Peterson	3,821	4.01	−1.32
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Laird	3,366	3.54	+3.54
	Greens	Ian Christoe	3,058	3.21	−1.00
	Fusion	Andrea Otto	653	0.69	+0.69
	Australian Citizens	Jeff Davy	377	0.40	+0.40
	Federation	Eleonor Tabone	367	0.39	+0.39
Total formal votes			95,191	92.11	−0.43
Informal votes			8,159	7.89	+0.43
Turnout			103,350	90.35	−2.98
Notional two-party-preferred count
	National	Sam Birrell	63,918	67.15	−2.88
	Labor	Bill Lodwick	31,273	32.85	+2.88
Two-candidate-preferred result
	National	Sam Birrell	51,221	53.81	−16.22
	Independent	Rob Priestly	43,970	46.19	+46.19
	National hold

• Division of Nicholls – Australian Electoral Commission