The Hills was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

from 1962 to 2007. It was a 51.08 km² urban electorate in Sydney's north-west, taking in the suburbs of Carlingford, Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, Glenhaven, Kellyville,

Pennant Hills Pennant Hills is a suburb in the Northern Sydney region, or Upper North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Pennant Hills is located 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of H ...

and West Pennant Hills. There were 44,961 electors enrolled in the district at the 1999 state election. The Hills electorate was first contested in 1962. It was created from the northern part of

Blacktown Blacktown is a suburb in the City of Blacktown, in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Blacktown is located west of the Sydney central business district. It is one of the most multicultural places within Gr ...

, a southern part of Hornsby and the northern part of Eastwood, in the Liberals' traditional heartland of northern Sydney, and as such was a comfortably safe Liberal seat, tending to have long-serving members throughout its history, only having seen four members in more than forty years.

Max Ruddock Maxwell Stanley Ruddock (2 January 191431 May 1976) was a New South Wales politician, Assistant Treasurer and Minister of the Crown in the cabinets of Tom Lewis and Sir Eric Willis. Representing the Liberal Party he was a member of the New S ...

held the seat from 1962 until his death in 1976, and was replaced by local mayor

Fred Caterson Frederick Douglas Claude Caterson (20 August 1919 – 25 February 2000) was an Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for The Hills in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1976 to 1990. Caterson was born at Nobbys Creek ...

, who won more than 70% of the vote in the subsequent by-election. Caterson suffered a large swing in the " Wranslide" of

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government). * January 6 – ...

, but even then managed to win an outright majority on the first count. It was one of only two times that the Liberals were seriously threatened in this seat. In 1962, Ruddock was nearly defeated by an independent Liberal when the seat was first contested. The seat reverted to form, and Caterson held it comfortably until 1990, when he retired and was replaced by used car dealer

Tony Packard Anthony Charles Packard (born 14 April 1943) is a former Australian politician. He was the Liberal member for The Hills in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 1990 to 1993. He had previously migrated to Australia from England in 1967 ...

. In contrast to his predecessors, Packard only lasted three years, and resigned amidst scandal in 1993. Although there was some speculation that the Liberal Party would lose the ensuing 1993 by-election, Liberal candidate Michael Richardson won easily and was handily returned in the next three elections. The district was abolished from the 2007 state election as a result of the 2004 electoral redistribution. Richardson followed most of the electorate to the new electorate of Castle Hill, with the remaining territory being split between Hawkesbury, Hornsby and Epping.

Members

Election results

References

External links

District profile from the State Electoral Office
{{DEFAULTSORT:The Hills Former electoral districts of New South Wales 1962 establishments in Australia Constituencies established in 1962 2007 disestablishments in Australia Constituencies disestablished in 2007