Division of Moore

Moore Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Moore (green) in Western Australia
Created:	1949
MP:	Mal Washer
Party:	Liberal
Namesake:	George Fletcher Moore
Area:	133 km² (51 sq mi)
Demographic:	Outer Metropolitan

The Division of Moore is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. Eligible voters within the Division elect a single representative, known as the member for Moore, to the Australian House of Representatives. The Division was named after George Fletcher Moore, the first Advocate-General of Western Australia, and is at present a safe Liberal seat held by Dr Mal Washer since the 1998 federal election, having changed significantly throughout its history in both geographical area and in political character.

History

Due to significant demographic change, the seat's boundaries and constituency has evolved considerably since its establishment at the 11 May 1949 redistribution, when it was for the most part a rural seat covering parts of the Wheatbelt to the north and east of Perth, the state capital, along the Indian Ocean coast - a similar region to that presently covered by the state seat of Moore. At its first election, the 1949 election, it was won by the Country Party. The seat maintained its rural character over the years as construction of the northern suburbs from the 1960s onwards forced its southern boundary just beyond the urban fringe of Perth, but the 28 February 1980 redistribution moved much of the rural hinterland into the new seat of O'Connor, and the creation of Cowan four years later in the suburbs north of Reid Highway to Whitfords Avenue saw Moore transformed into a safe Labor seat with a population centred on Midland, but still including the Chittering, Gingin and Dandaragan local government areas to the north.

The creation of Pearce at the 31 March 1989 redistribution pushed Moore into the now heavily urban and relatively affluent coastal areas north of Reid Highway, removing areas like Midland and Beechboro completely and making it a reasonably safe Liberal seat. The seat has been held by the Liberal Party ever since, apart from the period between the 1996 and 1998 federal elections when the disendorsed former member Paul Filing held it as an Independent.

Geography

The seat presently contains the entire western half of the City of Joondalup, with its boundaries to the east being Mitchell Freeway, Ocean Reef Road and the centre line of Lake Joondalup, as well as the coastal suburb of Watermans Bay in the City of Stirling. Its northern boundary is the fence line separating Tamala Park in the City of Wanneroo from Kinross and Burns Beach. Suburbs presently included are:

• Beldon
• Burns Beach
• Connolly
• Craigie
• Currambine
• Duncraig
• Edgewater

• Heathridge
• Hillarys
• Iluka
• Joondalup
• Kallaroo
• Kinross

• Marmion
• Mullaloo
• Ocean Reef
• Padbury
• Sorrento
• Watermans Bay

The 2008 redistribution, when it takes effect at the 2010 election, will add the City of Wanneroo suburbs of Mindarie, Clarkson, Carramar and part of Banksia Grove, whilst removing the small section of City of Stirling in Watermans Bay. Antony Green has calculated, based on 2007 votes, that this reduces the seat's Liberal margin from 9.2% to 9.0%.

Members

Member		Party	Term
	Hugh Leslie	Country	1949–1958
	Hugh Halbert	Liberal	1958–1961
	Hugh Leslie	Country	1961–1963
	Donald Maisey	Country	1963–1974
	John Hyde	Liberal	1974–1983
	Allen Blanchard	Labor	1983–1990
	Paul Filing	Liberal	1990–1995
		Independent	1995–1998
	Mal Washer	Liberal	1998–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Moore

Australian federal election, 2010: Moore
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Mal Washer	44,518	54.16	+0.12
	Labor	Jeremy Brown	21,678	26.37	-6.64
	Greens	Sheridan Young	11,159	13.57	+5.45
	Christian Democrats	Meg Birch	1,804	2.19	+0.03
	Family First	Paul Barrett	1,573	1.91	+0.68
	One Nation	George Gault	1,471	1.79	+0.74
Total formal votes			82,203	95.65	-1.26
Informal votes			3,734	4.35	+1.26
Turnout			85,937	93.11	-0.65
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal	Mal Washer	50,302	61.19	+2.26
	Labor	Jeremy Brown	31,901	38.81	-2.26
	Liberal hold		Swing	+2.26

References

• Division of Moore - Australian Electoral Commission