Division of Tangney
| Tangney Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
 Division of Tangney in Western Australia, as of the 2016 federal election. | |
| Created | 1974 |
| MP | Ben Morton |
| Party | Liberal Party of Australia |
| Namesake | Dame Dorothy Tangney |
| Electors | 94,353 (2019) |
| Area | 83 km2 (32.0 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Inner Metropolitan |
The Division of Tangney is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. The Division was named after Dame Dorothy Tangney, the first female member of the Australian Senate, and is at present a safe Liberal seat. It is currently held by Ben Morton, a former state director of the Liberal Party.
Dennis Jensen lost Liberal preselection in Tangney for the 2016 election.[1] Jensen ran against the endorsed Liberal candidate Ben Morton and lost.
History
Tangney was established at the Western Australia redistribution of 19 April 1974 and was first contested at the 1974 election. Until the 1984 redistribution, the seat included a much wider area including the traditional Labor areas of Spearwood and Gosnells, and the seat was a bellwether seat represented by the party of government. In 1984, the seat was confined to its present borders and has been held by the Liberal Party ever since.
It was first held by John Dawkins, later a Treasurer of Australia (as Member for Fremantle), and was held from 1993 until 2004 by Daryl Williams, former Attorney-General of Australia and Rhodes Scholar.[2]
The seat briefly made national headlines in August 2006 when Matt Brown, once a chief-of-staff to former Defence Minister Robert Hill, defeated incumbent MP Dr Dennis Jensen for preselection, despite support for the latter from John Howard. However, on 7 October 2006, the decision was overturned by the Liberals' Western Australian state council and Jensen was once again confirmed as the candidate for the 2007 election.[3]
Jensen lost Liberal preselection in Tangney for the 2016 federal election. Announced on 3 April 2016, it was revealed he had written an unpublished book that included graphic sex scenes, titled The Skywarriors (released as an eBook on Amazon 12 April 2016).[citation needed] Jensen labelled it "dirty tricks" and an "absolute smear campaign". Former party state director Ben Morton won preselection. On 2 July 2016 Ben Morton won the Tangney seat with 61.5% of the vote, losing 1.5% towards the Labor Party.
Geography
The seat presently contains most of the City of Melville, a part of the City of Canning and a small portion of the City of Cockburn and is located south of the Swan and Canning rivers. Suburbs presently included are:[4]
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Members
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
John Dawkins (1947–) |
Labor | 18 May 1974 – 13 December 1975 |
Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Fremantle in 1977 | |
|
Peter Richardson (1939–) |
Liberal | 13 December 1975 – 13 October 1977 |
Did not contest in 1977. Failed to win a Senate seat | |
| Progress | 13 October 1977 – 10 November 1977 | ||||
|
|
Peter Shack (1953–) |
Liberal | 10 November 1977 – 5 March 1983 |
Lost seat | |
|
|
George Gear (1947–) |
Labor | 5 March 1983 – 1 December 1984 |
Transferred to the Division of Canning | |
|
|
Peter Shack (1953–) |
Liberal | 1 December 1984 – 8 February 1993 |
Retired | |
|
|
Daryl Williams (1942–) |
Liberal | 13 March 1993 – 31 August 2004 |
Served as minister under Howard. Retired | |
|
|
Dennis Jensen (1962–) |
Liberal | 9 October 2004 – 9 May 2016 |
Lost preselection and then lost seat | |
| Independent | 9 May 2016 – 2 July 2016 | ||||
|
|
Ben Morton (1981–) |
Liberal | 2 July 2016 – present |
Incumbent |
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Ben Morton | 44,740 | 53.63 | +4.82 | |
| Labor | Marion Boswell | 21,644 | 25.95 | +2.40 | |
| Greens | Martin Spencer | 9,319 | 11.17 | −1.22 | |
| Independent | Jillian Horton | 1,933 | 2.32 | +2.32 | |
| One Nation | Scott Rafferty | 1,732 | 2.08 | +2.08 | |
| Christians | Mark Staer | 1,695 | 2.03 | −1.34 | |
| Western Australia | Gavin Waugh | 1,080 | 1.29 | +1.29 | |
| United Australia | Chris Fernandez | 969 | 1.16 | +1.16 | |
| Independent | Paul Waddy | 307 | 0.37 | +0.37 | |
| Total formal votes | 83,419 | 95.61 | −1.84 | ||
| Informal votes | 3,831 | 4.39 | +1.84 | ||
| Turnout | 87,250 | 92.47 | +1.27 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Ben Morton | 51,275 | 61.47 | +0.40 | |
| Labor | Marion Boswell | 32,144 | 38.53 | −0.40 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | +0.40 | |||
References
- ^ Dennis Jensen, West Australian MP, blames 'dirty tricks' after being dumped by Liberal preselectors: ABC 3 April 2016
- ^ "ABC "Australia Votes" - Tangney Electorate Profile".
- ^ "Dumped MP re-endorsed for federal seat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. AAP. 8 October 2006. Retrieved 24 October 2007.
- ^ "Profile of the electoral division of Tangney (WA)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ Tangney, WA, Tally Room 2019, Australian Electoral Commission.