Electoral district of Perth

This article is about the Western Australian state electorate. For the Australian federal electorate, see Division
of Perth.
The Electoral district of Perth is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. 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 rst
member having been elected in the inaugural 1890 elections of the Legislative Assembly.
It has historically been a mostly safe seat for the Labor
Party, but was won by Liberal Eleni Evangel at the 2013
election.

Geography
Map showing 2005 boundaries and changes at the 2007 redistribution.

area. In 1911, it only covered the central business district

and Northbridge, and in 1929, a section between Newcastle and Bulwer Streets was added. When it was recreated
from parts of the abolished West Perth and East Perth
districts at the 1961 redistribution,[3] 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[4] 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 extend well into the
former seat of Mount Lawley.[5]
Boundaries of Perth, 19622005.

The 2007 redistribution, which came into eect at the

2008 election, removed Menora and parts of Mount LawPerth is bounded by the Swan River to the south and ley northeast of Walcott Street, while including all of
southeast, Mitchell Freeway and Thomas Street to the West Perth as well as Kings Park, which had previously
west, Green Street to the north, and Walcott Street to been part of Nedlands.[6]
the northeast. Its boundaries include the suburbs of
East Perth, Highgate, Leederville, Mount Hawthorn,[1]
Northbridge, North Perth, Perth and West Perth along
with part of Mount Lawley southwest of Walcott Street.[2] 2 Demographics
Major features inside the electorate include Perths central business district, Kings Park, the East Perth redevel- As redistributions alter an electorates area and
opment precinct and Hyde Park.
demographic prole, the 2006 Census conducted
Historically, the boundaries included a much smaller by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the boundaries
1

prior to the redistribution is the main source of information on the electorates current prole. At the 2006
census, the median age of the electorates residents was
35 years, compared to 36 across metropolitan Perth
only 12.1% of the electorates population (compared
with 19.5%) were below 15, but the 2554 age group
was signicantly greater.[7] Only 53.7% of its residents
were born in Australia, compared to 61.5% in Perth,
and much less of the remainder were from northwestern Europe (10.78% as against 13.93%). At home,
signicantly more electorate residents spoke Italian,
Cantonese, Mandarin and Greek at home, and whilst
the top three religions (Catholicism, no religion and
Anglicanism) diered little from other parts of Perth,
Buddhism and Eastern Orthodox adherents outnumbered
those of the Uniting Church.[7] Only 36% were married
compared to 49% across Perth, whilst only 47.7% of
homes (compared to 67.2%) were fully owned or being
purchased. The median income in the electorate was
$606 compared with $513, and 49.5% of the electorates
workers were professionals or managers compared with
31.8%.[7]
In the 2007 redistribution, Menora, with a median income of $397 and a median age of 48, with 42.5% being
55 years or over, was removed, whilst West Perth, with a
slightly larger population and a median income of $698
and a median age of 34, and a higher percentage of professionals and managers than the electorates average, was
added.[8][9]
The Australian Bureau of Statistics do not collect data on
sexuality, but the electorate is home to a signicant portion of Perths gay community.[10][11] Perths main gay
venues, Connections Nightclub and the Court Hotel,[12]
as well as events such as the Pride Parade and Fairday,
are located in the electorate.[13]

History

HISTORY

initial 30 single-member districts, and one of only six in

the PerthFremantle area.[14] Its rst member, who was
elected on 10 December 1890, was Dr Edward Scott,
a doctor by training who had been elected as Mayor of
Perth the previous year. He resigned in December 1891,
and was replaced at the resulting by-election on 12 January 1892 by Thomas Molloy. Molloy became embroiled
in a controversy regarding provision of state aid to private
schools, which he and fellow Catholic MLAs Timothy
Quinlan and Alfred Canning supported. The Catholic
Vicar General, Father Anselm Bourke, established the
Education Defence League with their assistance. However, the issue became a major one in the 1894 election
amongst the voting public, and all three MLAs lost their
seats, Molloy losing to George Randell, a prominent Congregationalist who had led the cause against state aid.[15]
Randell became the Opposition Leader to Premier John
Forrest, but stepped down from that role a year later in
July 1895, and did not contest the 1897 election, which
was won by a supporter of Forrest.[15]
In the 1901 election, after which the Oppositionists under
George Leake were able to form a minority government,
Frank Wilson, formerly the member for Canning, won
the seat. After ve months, the Leake government failed,
and the governor eventually invited Alf Morgans of the
Ministerial Party to form a government and appoint a sixmember Ministry. Morgans appointed Wilson minister
of mines and commissioner of railways on 21 November 1901. Until 1947, members of parliament who were
appointed as ministers were required to resign their seat
and recontest it at a ministerial by-election, which was
normally a fairly non-eventful matter.[16] However, Leake
and his allies contested the six by-elections with such organised campaigning that three of the six ministers, including Wilson, were defeated.[17]
In 1911, the seat was won for the rst time for the
Australian Labor Party by Walter Dwyer, a lawyer who
helped to draft the Industrial Arbitration Act 1912 during the rst Scaddan administration;[18] however, he was
defeated by James Connolly of the new Liberal Party
in 1914. Connolly became a minister without portfolio in the new Wilson government in 1916, but resigned
in June 1917 when appointed to the role of Agent General for Western Australia.[19] Robert Pilkington of the
Nationalist Party won the subsequent by-election on 21
July 1917 and election two months later, before leaving
for England in 1921. Harry Mann, a former detective
who, amongst other things, oversaw gaming and racing,
was elected in his place.[20]

A controversy erupted in 1933 upon the establishment of

a Lotteries Commission, to which Mann, along with John
Scaddan and Legislative Council member Alec Clydesdale, were appointed. Several protable newspaper competitions, including that of The Sunday Times, were proThe southern and eastern parts of the electorate, as seen from the
hibited due to being thinly disguised forms of gambling.
air.
In response, a Citizens Reform League was formed to deThe electoral district of Perth was created as one of the fend the crosswords, and at the elections later that year,

3
both Mann and Scaddan lost their seats[21] with Perth
being won by former Labor Senator Ted Needham, who
was to hold the seat until its abolition at the 1950 election, and North Perth for the following three years until his retirement.[22] One sideline to Needhams campaigns was watchmaker and jeweller William Murray,
who had placed a public notice in The West Australian
on 28 October 1930 stating that Parliament has become
an out-of-date instrument for achieving the will of AngloSaxon peoples and seeking names and addresses of anyone wishing to work towards overthrowing itand then
ran for election as a Nationalist in 1936 and 1943.[23]
The seat was re-established at the 1962 election with
dierent boundaries[3] the neighbouring seats of West
Perth, East Perth and North Perth having all been abolished in the 1961 redistributionand was won by Labors Stanley Heal, the previous member for West Perth.
He was defeated at the 1965 election by Peter Durack of
the Liberal Country League, who was in turn defeated
by Terry Burke in 1968.[24] Burke, the brother of Brian
Burke who went on to serve as Premier from 1983 until
1988, went on to hold the seat for 19 years until 1987.
He faced some high-prole Liberal opponents, including
future Legislative Councillor Bob Pike in 1971, historian and author Hal G.P. Colebatch in 1977 and Olympic
swimmer Peter Evans in 1986.
Burke resigned in 1987, and Labors Dr Ian Alexander,
a City of Perth councillor and town planner from the
partys left faction, won the subsequent by-election on
9 May 1987. He spent much of his parliamentary time
on Aboriginal issues, sustainability and the environment
and the Northern Suburbs Transit System project. On
4 March 1991, Ian Alexander resigned from the Labor
party citing frequent breaches of the partys basic principles and platforms, and sat as an independent until the
1993 election.[25] Dr Alexander did not stand for election
in 1993, and Labors Diana Warnock, a former radio talkshow host, won the seat with 50.29% of the two-partypreferred vote against the Liberals Hal G.P. Colebatch.

councillor Eleni Evangel defeated John Hyde and Labor

in an upset victory with a signicant swing, becoming the
rst Liberal member for Perth since the 1960s.

4 Members for Perth

5 Results
Main article: Electoral results for the district of Perth

6 References
[1] This includes a section formerly part of Glendalough
which merged with Mount Hawthorn in 2007. See Town
of Vincent (1 March 2007). Media release - Whats in a
name?" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-01-12.
[2] Western Australian Electoral Commission (29 October
2007). 2007 Electoral Distribution - Final Boundaries
- Metropolitan Area - North Metropolitan Region. Retrieved 2008-01-12.
[3] Electoral Districts Act 1947-1955 - Order in Council.
Western Australia Government Gazette. 14 December
1961. p. 1961:3651-3702.
[4] Electoral Districts Act 1947-1965 - Order in Council.
Western Australia Government Gazette. 14 June 1972. p.
1972:1833-1893.
[5] Electoral Distributions Act 1947 - Division of the State
into Six Electoral Regions and 57 Electoral Districts
by the Electoral Distribution Commissioners. Western
Australia Government Gazette. 28 November 1994. p.
1994:6135-6327.
[6] Western Australian Electoral Commission (4 August
2003). 2003 Electoral Distribution - Final Boundaries
- - North Metropolitan - Perth. Retrieved 2008-01-12.

On 21 October 1999, Warnock announced her depar- [7] Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Perth
ture at the next election for personal reasons, and threw
(North Metropolitan) (State Electoral Division)". 2006
Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
her support behind former Town of Vincent mayor John
* For statistics for the whole of Perth, see Australian BuHyde, a member of the Centre faction of the Labor Party
reau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Perth (Statistical
who had the support of the Left faction and some Centre
Division)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 2008-12members of Parliament. However, the key Centre unions
10.
had backed former ministerial adviser Adele Farina for
the post, and Labors armative action policy for candi- [8] Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007).
dates in winnable seats meant that failing to pick a female
Menora (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Recandidate would risk sitting male MPs. A week later, the
trieved 2008-12-10.
Centre faction openly split, with a breakaway group en[9] Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). West
dorsing Hyde. On 5 November, Farina withdrew from the
Perth (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved
contest, leaving Hyde to be preselected unopposed ahead
2008-12-10.
[26]
of the 2001 election. He maintained the seat for Labor
at the election, becoming the rst openly gay man to sit [10] Bowe, William (2005). Western Australian Election
2005: Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
in the Western Australian parliament.[11]
On 9 March 2013, Liberal candidate and City of Perth [11] O'Brien, Natalie. Gay candidate trusts electorates tolerance, The West Australian, 17 January 2001, p.6.

[12] Lingane, Dennis. (1999) Drag on draught, The Sunday

Times (Checkout section), 20 June 1999, p.10.
[13] Smith, Megan. (2008) "Representing Northbridge - John
Hyde", Out in Perth, 26 September 2008. Accessed 3 January 2009.
[14] de Garis, Brian (1981). Self-government and the evolution of party politics. In Stannage, C.T. A New History
of Western Australia. Nedlands: University of Western
Australia Press. p. 336. ISBN 0-85564-170-3.
[15] de Garis (1981), p.342-343.
[16] Black, D., in Stannage (1981), p.390.
[17] de Garis (1981), p.348.
* de Garis, Brian (1986). Leake, George (1856 - 1902)".
Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian
National University. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
* Dates from Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997).
Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996. Perth: Parliamentary History Project
and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 07309-8409-5.
[18] Dunphy, Edward (1981). Dwyer, Sir Walter (1875 1950)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra:
Australian National University. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
[19] Bolton, Georey (1981). Connolly, Sir James Daniel
(1869 - 1962)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 200812-08.
[20] Stoddart, Brian. (1981) Sport and Society 18901940,
in Stannage, p. 672.
[21] Black (1981), p.422. Also see Bolton, Georey (1972). A
ne country to starve in. University of Western Australia
Press. pp. 244246. ISBN 0-85564-061-8.
[22] Black, David and Bolton, Georey (2001). Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia, Volume One, 18701930 (Revised Edition
ed.). Parliament House: Parliament of Western Australia.
ISBN 0730738140.
[23] Bolton, Georey (1991). Good name of Parliament.
In Black, David. The house on the hill: A history of the
Parliament of Western Australia 1832-1990. West Perth:
Parliament of Western Australia. p. 482. ISBN 0-73093983-9.
[24] Black, David; Prescott, Valerie (1997). Election statistics,
Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996.
Perth: Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission. ISBN 0-7309-8409-5.
[25] Humphries, David (6 March 1991). WAs Labor sinks
towards minority government. The Age. p. 6.
Labor in trouble in the West. The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 March 1991. p. 14.
[26] Mallabone, Mark. State Labor MP to call it quits, The
West Australian, 22 October 1999, p.12; Burns, Anne.
Labor caught in battle of sexes, The West Australian, 22
October 1999, p.22; Burns, Anne. Seat ght leads to new

EXTERNAL LINKS

Labor factions, The West Australian, 28 October 1999,

p.10; ALP gets behind Hyde, The West Australian, 6
November 1999, p.6.
[27] Perth District Results. Western Australian Electoral
Commission. Retrieved 2013-03-30.

7 External links
Electorate Prole (Antony Green, ABC)

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