Changing Electorates
Mr Elliott has announced that he won’t be standing for preselection for the Liberal party in the next State Election which will be held on March 25th.
The State seat of Baulkham Hills has been renamed Kellyville for the 2023 election following changes to the electoral boundaries. Changes have also been made to the electoral boundaries of the Seven Hills electorate, which has now been renamed Winston Hills, and the Castle Hill State seat which will now take in more of the old Baulkham Hills seat. (see diagrams on page 24).
As yet no date has been set for Liberal Pre-selections for the new seat of Kellyville and the seat of Castle Hill. Sitting MP for Castle Hill, Ray Williams has indicated he will be standing for pre-selection for Kellyville which now takes in more of his existing electorate. Mr Elliott has ruled out standing for Liberal Preselection in Castle Hill. Sitting MP for Seven Hills, Mark Taylor has been endorsed as the Liberal candidate for the reshaped and renamed electorate of Winston Hills.
Mr Elliott was first elected to the State Seat of Baulkham Hills in 2011 and has served as the Minister for Police and Emergency Services (April 2019 to December 2021) Minister for Counter Terrorism (January 2017 to March 2019) Minister for Corrections and Minister for Veterans Affairs (April 2015 to March 2019) and Minister for Emergency Services ( 2015 to 2017).
His decision to leave politics follows a bitter factional row in the Liberal Party. He has refused to run in his reshaped seat of Kellyville as he didn’t want to compete against factional ally and current Ray Williams who is up for pre-selection for the renamed Kellyville seat. Mr Elliott said he did not have the support needed from Liberal branch members to be selected for Castle Hill.
In a public statement the veteran member of the Liberal Party said: “With the abolition of my Baulkham Hills electorate and advice that I cannot be accommodated in the new seat of Castle Hill on factional grounds, I have today advised my community that I will not be re contesting the 2023 State Election.”
“I simply want to offer my thanks to three groups. Firstly, the people of Baulkham Hills have given me fantastic support and encouragement. Nicole and I moved to The Hills Shire when I discharged from the Army more than twenty years ago and we immediately felt welcomed. It’s an honour to be the last Member for Baulkham Hills.
“Secondly, to the 200,000 police and corrections officers, volunteer and salaried fire fighters, emergency services and transport personnel who I have represented in Cabinet over eight years I offer my thanks and best wishes. All of this could not have been done without the tireless work of my ministerial and electorate staff. They deserve the Victoria Cross.”
He saved the biggest thanks for his wife Nicole and sons Lachlan and William. “Having spent nearly two decades serving my country in both the military and the NSW Parliament, I leave public service content that I’ve done the best job I could.”
Mr Elliott has been a Liberal Party member for 36 years.
The electoral boundaries were redrawn In August 2021, to ensure the number of eligible voters in each district does not vary by more than 10 per cent from the average enrolment across all 93 electoral districts in NSW.
The new Castle Hill electorate is bounded by the M2, Windsor Road, Old Northern Rd and Castle Hill Rd, O’Haras and Cattai Creeks. It includes West Pennant Hills, Castle Hill, parts of Baulkham Hills, Annangrove, Kenthurst, Glenhaven, Dural and Middle Dural.
The new Kellyville Electorate takes in the suburbs of Kellyville, North Kellyville, Rouse Hill, Beaumont Hills, Norwest, Bella Vista and part of Baulkham Hills and Castle Hill. It is bounded by Old Windsor Rd, Toongabbie Creek, Windsor Rd and Cattai and Caddies Creeks. The State seat of Seven Hills has been renamed Winston Hills for the March 2023 State election . It includes the suburbs of Glenwood, Baulkham Hills, Seven Hills, Winston Hills, Toongabbie, Constitution Hill, Northmead, Pennant Hills and Wentworthville.
To find out more visit the NSW Electoral Commission website at www.elections.nsw.gov.au[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
