Division of Perth

Coordinates: 31°54′36″S 115°54′18″E / 31.910°S 115.905°E / -31.910; 115.905
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Perth
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Perth in Western Australia, as of the 2021 redistribution.
Created1901
MPPatrick Gorman
PartyLabor
NamesakePerth
Electors122,719 (2022)
Area80 km2 (30.9 sq mi)
DemographicInner metropolitan

The Division of Perth is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. It is named after Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, where the Division is located.

History[edit]

The city of Perth, the division's namesake

The division was proclaimed in 1900, and was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election. It extends northeast along the north bank of the Swan River from Perth, including suburbs such as Maylands, Mount Lawley, Bayswater, Ashfield, Bedford, Morley, Beechboro and the Perth city centre. It is a primarily residential area, although contains an industrial area at Bayswater and major commercial centres in Perth and Morley.

Between the 1940s and 1980s, it was a marginal seat that frequently changed hands between the Liberals (and their predecessors) and Labor. Recent demographic changes have made it a fairly safe Labor seat.

As of the last federal election, Perth has held the strongest Greens vote of all seats in Western Australia, at 18.87%. The growing Greens vote in the seat has come largely at the expense of the Labor Party, whose primary vote has dropped by 11.93% since 1993, when the Greens first contested the division of Perth. The Greens won their first ever booth in the seat in 2019 when the party came first on primary vote in Northbridge. Additionally, the party came a close second in the Highgate booth based on primary vote and also achieved over 20% in 20 of the booths for the first time. In 2022, the Greens polled 22.1% and came a clear second in 18 booths and topped the primary vote in Northbridge, Highgate North and Mount Lawley East.

Geography[edit]

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been 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]

In August 2021, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced that Perth's northern boundary would be altered to run almost entirely along Morley Drive. As a result, Perth's portion of the suburb of Noranda would be transferred to the seat of Cowan, while Perth would gain the suburbs of Joondanna, Tuart Hill, Yokine, the south-east of Osborne Park and the remainder of Coolbinia and Inglewood from the abolished seat of Stirling. In addition, minor changes would occur to Perth's portions of Dianella and Morley. These boundary changes came into effect for the 2022 Australian federal election.[2]

Perth is bordered by the Swan River to the south and east, the Mitchell Freeway and Kings Park to the west, and Morley Drive to the north. It includes the local government areas of the City of Perth, the City of Vincent, the Town of Bassendean, most of the City of Bayswater, and a portion of the City of Stirling. Suburbs presently included are:[3]

Members[edit]

Image Member Party Term Notes
  James Fowler
(1863–1940)
Labour 29 March 1901
June 1909
Lost preselection and then lost seat
  Commonwealth Liberal June 1909 –
17 February 1917
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
16 December 1922
  Edward Mann
(1874–1951)
Nationalist 16 December 1922
September 1929
Lost seat
  Independent Nationalist September 1929 –
12 October 1929
  Walter Nairn
(1879–1958)
Nationalist 12 October 1929
7 May 1931
Served as Speaker during the Menzies, Fadden and Curtin Governments. Lost seat
  United Australia 7 May 1931 –
21 August 1943
  Tom Burke
(1910–1973)
Labor 21 August 1943
10 December 1955
Lost seat
  Fred Chaney
(1914–2001)
Liberal 10 December 1955
25 October 1969
Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Menzies. Served as minister under Menzies and Holt. Lost seat
  Joe Berinson
(1932–2018)
Labor 25 October 1969
13 December 1975
Served as minister under Whitlam. Lost seat. Later elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1980
  Ross McLean
(1944–)
Liberal 13 December 1975
5 March 1983
Lost seat
  Dr Ric Charlesworth
(1952–)
Labor 5 March 1983
8 February 1993
Retired
  Stephen Smith
(1955–)
Labor 13 March 1993
5 August 2013
Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired
  Alannah MacTiernan
(1953–)
Labor 7 September 2013
9 May 2016
Previously held the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Armadale. Retired. Later elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council in 2017
  Tim Hammond
(1975–)
Labor 2 July 2016
10 May 2018
Resigned to retire from politics
  Patrick Gorman
(1984–)
Labor 28 July 2018
present
Incumbent

Election results[edit]

2022 Australian federal election: Perth[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Patrick Gorman 40,066 39.25 +5.66
Liberal David Dwyer 27,294 26.74 −12.24
Greens Caroline Perks 22,621 22.16 +3.79
One Nation Cameron Bailey 2,749 2.69 −0.03
Western Australia Dave Vos 1,878 1.84 −0.57
United Australia Sonya Eberhart 1,605 1.57 −0.23
Animal Justice Sarah Szmekura-Moor 1,535 1.50 +1.50
Christians Dean Powell 1,514 1.48 +1.09
Liberal Democrats Evan Nickols 1,407 1.38 +1.38
Australian Federation Aiden Gyuru 710 0.70 +0.70
Great Australian Sean Connor 702 0.69 +0.69
Total formal votes 102,081 94.42 −1.20
Informal votes 6,028 5.58 +1.20
Turnout 108,109 88.19 −1.34
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Patrick Gorman 66,151 64.80 +11.57
Liberal David Dwyer 35,930 35.20 −11.57
Labor hold Swing +11.57
Primary vote results in Perth (Parties that did not get 5% of the vote are omitted)
  Liberal
  Labor
  Australian Democrats
  Greens
  Australian Democrats
  One Nation
  Liberal Democrats (Australia)
  Independent
Two-candidate-preferred results in Perth

References[edit]

  1. ^ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ^ https://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2021/wa/files/redistribution-of-western-australia-into-electoral-divisions-august-2021.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ "Profile of the electoral division of Perth (WA)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  4. ^ Perth, WA, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

External links[edit]

31°54′36″S 115°54′18″E / 31.910°S 115.905°E / -31.910; 115.905