Division of Perth

This article is about the Australian federal electorate. For the Western Australian state electorate, see Electoral district of Perth.

Perth Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Perth in Western Australia, as of the 2016 federal election.
Created	1901
MP	Patrick Gorman
Party	Labor
Namesake	Perth
Electors	101,413 (2019)
Area	80 km2 (30.9 sq mi)
Demographic	Inner 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

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.

Geography

Perth is bordered by the Swan River to the south and east, the Mitchell Freeway and Kings Park to the west, and Noranda, Western Australia to the north. It includes the local government areas of the City of Perth (as of 2015), City of Vincent, City of Bayswater, Town of Bassendean and a small portion of the City of Stirling. Suburbs presently included are:

• Ashfield
• Bassendean
• Bayswater
• Bedford
• Coolbinia (part)
• Dianella (part)
• East Perth
• Eden Hill
• Embleton
• Highgate
• Inglewood
• Kings Park
• Leederville
• Maylands
• Menora
• Morley (part)
• Mount Hawthorn
• Mount Lawley
• Noranda
• Northbridge
• North Perth
• Perth
• West Perth

Members

	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 in order to retire from politics
		Patrick Gorman (1984–)	Labor	28 July 2018 – present	Incumbent

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Perth

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2019 Australian federal election in Western Australia § Perth.[edit]

2019 Australian federal election: Perth

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Jim Grayden	32,800	37.40	−4.91
	Labor	Patrick Gorman	30,207	34.44	−2.92
	Greens	Caroline Perks	16,552	18.87	+1.80
	One Nation	Mel Lownds	2,333	2.66	+2.66
	Western Australia	Jane Boxall	2,222	2.53	+2.53
	United Australia	Chas Hopkins	1,661	1.89	+1.89
	Science	Gary Davies	1,329	1.52	+1.52
	VOTEFLUX.ORG	Curtis Greening	602	0.69	+0.69
Total formal votes			87,706	95.41	−0.82
Informal votes			4,220	4.59	+0.82
Turnout			91,926	90.65	+2.61
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Patrick Gorman	48,176	54.93	+1.60
	Liberal	Jim Grayden	39,530	45.07	−1.60
	Labor hold		Swing	+1.60

External links

• Division of Perth - Australian Electoral Commission