Electoral district of Perth: Difference between revisions

The Electoral district of Perth is a electorate in the state of Western Australia. Eligible voters within the district elect a single representative, known as the member for Perth, to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. Perth is named for the capital city of Western Australia whose central business district falls within its borders. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member having been elected in the inaugural 1890 elections of the Legislative Assembly. It is currently regarded as a safe seat for the Australian Labor Party, which has held it consistently since 1968. Its present occupant, John Hyde, was first elected in the 2001 election.

Geography

At present (2008), Perth is bounded by the Swan River to the south and southeast, Mitchell Freeway to the west, Green Street to the north, and Central Avenue to the northeast. Its boundaries include the suburbs of East Perth, Highgate, Leederville, Menora, Mount Hawthorn,^[1] Northbridge and Perth, along with most of Mount Lawley, the southern and western parts of North Perth and a small section of West Perth.^[2]

The 2007 redistribution, which comes into effect at the 2009 election, will exclude all of Menora and Mount Lawley northeast of Walcott Street, while including all of West Perth as well as Kings Park.^[3]

Historically, the boundaries included a much smaller area. At the 1961 redistribution,^[4] the Perth electorate included all of West Perth and part of Kings Park, but its northern boundary only extended to Vincent Street, Hyde Park and the East Perth railway station. The 1972 redistribution^[5] added part of West Leederville east of Kimberley Street, and extended the northern boundary to include southern Leederville and parts of North Perth and Mount Lawley. By 1982, it extended to Walcott Street, and the 1994 redistribution saw it take its present shape.^[6]

History

Perth was held for the Labor Party by Terry Burke 1968-87, the brother of former Premier Brian Burke. He was succeeded by Dr Ian Alexander, who resigned from the Labor Party to sit as an Independent over ideological differences in 1992. The Labor margin going into the 1993 election was only 1.2%, and new Labor candidate Diana Warnock did well to hold on to the seat in the face of the defeat of the Lawrence government. A former radio talk-show host, Warnock decided to retire at the 2001 election after serving two terms in Opposition.

Members for Perth

Results

References

External links

• Electorate Profile (Antony Green, ABC)