Electoral district of Cottesloe

Cottesloe Western Australia—Legislative Assembly
State or territory:	Western Australia
Dates current:	1950–present
MP:	Colin Barnett
Party:	Liberal
Namesake:	Cottesloe
Area:	38.7 km² (15 sq mi)
Demographic:	North Metropolitan

Cottesloe is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Cottesloe is named for the western Perth suburb of Cottesloe which falls within its borders.

History

Cottesloe was created at the 1948 redistribution, at which three new metropolitan electorates were created to replace former northern and agricultural seats in Parliament. Its first member was elected at the 1950 election, and it has always been a safe seat for the Liberal Party and its predecessors. It has only had three members: Ross Hutchinson, Bill Hassell who served as Opposition Leader to Premier Brian Burke in 1984–1986, and Colin Barnett, who was elected at a by-election in 1990 and served as Deputy Premier, Minister for Energy and, after 1995, Education during the Court government in 1993–2001, and Opposition Leader in 2001–2005. Barnett, seen as a moderate within Liberal ranks, resigned the leadership after the 2005 election. He had originally planned to retire at the 2008 election, but after the troubled seven-month leadership of Troy Buswell and generally poor opinion polls, Barnett was persuaded to reconsider (the nominated candidate for Cottesloe, Deidre Willmott, stood aside), and regained the leadership on 6 August 2008 on a unanimous party vote, one day before the 2008 election was called.

Geography

As at the 2007 redistribution, Cottesloe is bounded by Loch Street and Brockway Road to the east, Perry Lakes and Bold Park to the north, the Indian Ocean to the west, and the Swan River to the south and southeast. It includes the suburbs of Claremont, Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Mount Claremont, North Fremantle, Peppermint Grove and Swanbourne. Major features within the electorate include Campbell Barracks (Australia), Cottesloe Beach and several private schools including Scotch College, Christ Church Grammar School, Methodist Ladies' College and Presbyterian Ladies' College.

Prior to the redistribution, it had additionally contained sections of City Beach and Floreat, which were moved north into neighbouring Churchlands.

Demographics

Cottesloe and the neighbouring electorates of Churchlands to the north and Nedlands to the east comprise the affluent western suburbs of Perth—the Australian Bureau of Statistics's SEIFA index (2001) ranked them as the highest three electorates by socio-economic status in Western Australia, with high scores on educational and employment opportunity. At the 2006 census, the median individual income in the Cottesloe electorate, based on its 2005 boundaries, was $639 per week compared to $513 in the Perth metropolitan area, and the median weekly household income was $1,416 compared to $1,086 across Perth. 56.8% of the population were professionals or managers.

Members for Cottesloe

Member		Party	Term
	Ross Hutchinson	Liberal	1950–1977
	Bill Hassell	Liberal	1977–1990
	Colin Barnett	Liberal	1990–present

Results

See also: Electoral results for the district of Cottesloe

Western Australian state election, 2008: Cottesloe
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Colin Barnett	12,552	63.45	+7.8
	Labor	Dave Hume	3,470	17.54	-7.0
	Greens WA	Greg Boland	3,366	17.02	+0.1
	Christian Democrats	Pat Seymour	393	1.99	-1.1
Total formal votes			19,781	95.74
Informal votes			880	4.26
Turnout			20.661	85.96
Two-candidate preferred result
	Liberal	Colin Barnett	13,729	69.42	+7.9
	Labor	Dave Hume	6,047	30.58	-7.9
	Liberal hold		Swing	+7.9

External links

• Electorate Profile (Antony Green, ABC)