Charters Towers was an
electoral district
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
of the
Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
. It has had three incarnations, most recently being created as part of a redistribution in 1991 and lasting until 2008.
The latest incarnation of Charters Towers was created in 1992, largely as a replacement for the abolished
Flinders
Flinders may refer to:
Places Antarctica
* Flinders Peak, near the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula
Australia New South Wales
* Flinders County, New South Wales
* Shellharbour Junction railway station, Shellharbour
* Flinders, New South Wa ...
. The electorate covered a vast area of central Queensland, from
Etheridge Shire in the north to
Jericho Shire in the south. Besides its namesake town,
Charters Towers
Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits under ...
, other major locations within the division included
Georgetown,
Hughenden Hughenden may refer to:
*Hughenden, Queensland, a town in Australia
*Hughenden, Alberta, a village in central Alberta, Canada
*Hughenden Valley
Hughenden Valley (formerly called Hughenden or Hitchendon) is an extensive village and civil parish in ...
,
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
,
Moranbah
Moranbah is a coal mining town and locality in the Isaac Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Moranbah had a population of 8,735 people.
In addition to the permanent population, Moranbah also has a large fly-in fly-out popula ...
,
Clermont,
Tieri
Tieri is a small mining town and locality in the Central Highlands Region, Queensland, Australia. Established in 1983, the town is a service centre for local coal mines, similar to nearby Middlemount and Dysart,
Geography
The locality is ...
,
Alpha
Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἄλφα, ''álpha'', or ell, άλφα, álfa) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter aleph , whic ...
,
Aramac and
Muttaburra
Muttaburra is an outback town and locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia. Muttaburra was the discovery site of the ''Muttaburrasaurus'', one of Australia's most famous dinosaurs.
Geography
Muttaburra is in the central west ...
. It was located in what was now
National
National may refer to:
Common uses
* Nation or country
** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen
Places in the United States
* National, Maryland, c ...
heartland, and was held by that party and its successor, the
Liberal National Party, for all but one term. The seat fell to
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
during its 2001 landslide, but reverted to its conservative ways in 2004.
In 2008, Charters Towers was abolished—with effect at the
2009 state election—as a result of a redistribution undertaken by the
Electoral Commission of Queensland
The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) is established under the ''Electoral Act 1992'' as an independent statutory authority, responsible for the impartial conduct of state and local government elections in Queensland.
Functions
The Commi ...
. Its former territory and voters were split between the districts of
Burdekin
The Shire of Burdekin is a local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen in the delta of the Burdekin River.
It covers an area of , and has existe ...
,
Gregory,
Mount Isa
Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...
and the new seat of
Dalrymple. The seat's last member,
Shane Knuth
Shane Andrew Knuth (born 7 September 1966) is an Australian politician. He has been a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly since 2004, representing three successive seats: Charters Towers (2004–2009), Dalrymple (2009–2017) and Hil ...
, transferred to Dalrymple.
An earlier district called Charters Towers based in the same region existed from 1888 to 1960—firstly as a dual member electorate, and from 1912 as a single member electorate. Its most notable representative was
Anderson Dawson
Andrew Dawson (16 July 1863 – 20 July 1910), usually known as Anderson Dawson, was an Australian politician, the Premier of Queensland for one week (1–7 December) in 1899. This short-lived premiership was the first Australian Labor Party go ...
of the
Labor Party,
Premier of Queensland
The premier of Queensland is the head of government in the Australian state of Queensland.
By convention the premier is the leader of the party with a parliamentary majority in the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Queensland. The premier is ap ...
for six days in December 1899, and leader of the world's first parliamentary
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
government.
Members for Charters Towers
Election results
See also
*
Electoral districts of Queensland
This is a list of current and former electoral divisions for the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state legislature for Queensland, Australia.
Current Districts by region
Districts in Far North Queensland
* Barron River
*Cairns
*Cook
* ...
*
Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
This is a list of members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, the state parliament of Queensland, sorted by parliament.
See also
* Queensland Legislative Assembly electoral districts
This is a list of current and former electoral div ...
by year
*
:Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly by name
References
External links
District Profile - Charters Towers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Charters Towers
Former electoral districts of Queensland
Charters Towers