Division of Perth

{{short description|Australian federal electoral division}}

{{About|the Australian federal electorate|the Western Australian state electorate|Electoral district of Perth}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}

{{Use Australian English|date=September 2017}}

{{Infobox Australian electorate

| federal = yes

| name = Perth

| image = {{switcher

|{{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=Australian Federal Electorates/Western Australia (2022)/Perth.map|frame-height=300|frame-width=400|overlay-horizontal-alignment=right|overlay-vertical-alignment=bottom|overlay=x100px

}}

|From the 2022 federal election to 2025

|{{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=Australian Federal Electorates/Western Australia (2025)/Perth.map|frame-height=300|frame-width=400|overlay-horizontal-alignment=right|overlay-vertical-alignment=bottom|overlay=x100px

}}

|From the 2025 federal election

|default=2

}}

| caption = Interactive map of electorate boundaries

| created = 1901

| mp = Patrick Gorman

| mp-party = Labor

| namesake = Perth

| electors = 122719

| electors_year = 2022

| area = 80

| class = Inner metropolitan

| coordinates =

| near-n = Cowan

| near-ne = Hasluck

| near-e = Hasluck

| near-se = Swan

| near-s = Swan

| near-sw = Curtin

| near-w = Curtin

| near-nw = Cowan

}}

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

File:Perth (AU), Elizabeth Quay -- 2019 -- 0259.jpg, the division's namesake]]

The division was one of the original 65 divisions to be contested at the first federal election in 1901. It was one of five electorates created by the Federal House of Representatives Western Australian Electorates Act 1900, an act of the parliament of Western Australia.{{cite news|url=https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/law_a142972.html|title=Federal House of Representatives Western Australian Electorates Act 1900|work=Western Australian Legislation|publisher=Government of Western Australia|access-date=24 July 2024}}

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.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

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. In 2022, the Greens polled 22.1% and came a clear second in 18 booths and topped the primary vote in Northbridge, Highgate North and Mount Lawley East.

{{clear left}}

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.{{cite web |last1=Muller |first1=Damon |title=The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1718/Quick_Guides/FederalRedistributions |website=Parliament of Australia |access-date=19 April 2022 |date=14 November 2017}}

In August 2021, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced that Perth's northern boundary would be altered to run almost entirely along Morley Drive. As a result, Perth's portion of the suburb of Noranda would be transferred to the seat of Cowan, while Perth would gain the suburbs of Joondanna, Tuart Hill, Yokine, the south-east of Osborne Park and the remainder of Coolbinia and Inglewood from the abolished seat of Stirling. In addition, minor changes would occur to Perth's portions of Dianella and Morley. These boundary changes came into effect for the 2022 Australian federal election.{{Cite web| title=Redistribution of Western Australia into electoral divisions | url=https://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2021/wa/files/redistribution-of-western-australia-into-electoral-divisions-august-2021.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919084030/https://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2021/wa/files/redistribution-of-western-australia-into-electoral-divisions-august-2021.pdf | archive-date=2021-09-19}}

Perth is bordered by the Swan River to the south and east, the Mitchell Freeway and Kings Park to the west, and Morley Drive to the north. It includes the local government areas of the City of Perth, the City of Vincent, the Town of Bassendean, most of the City of Bayswater, and a portion of the City of Stirling. Suburbs presently included are:{{cite web|title=Profile of the electoral division of Perth (WA)|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/wa/perth.htm|website=Australian Electoral Commission|access-date=24 April 2016}}

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Members

class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
! Image

! Member

! Party

! Term

! Notes

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| rowspan=3 | 100px

| rowspan=3 | James Fowler
{{small|(1863–1940)}}

| Labor

| nowrap | 29 March 1901
June 1909

| rowspan=3 | Lost preselection and then lost seat

{{Australian party style|Commonwealth Liberal}}| 

| nowrap | Liberal

| nowrap | June 1909 –
17 February 1917

{{Australian party style|Nationalist}}| 

| rowspan="2" | Nationalist

| nowrap | 17 February 1917 –
16 December 1922

{{Australian party style|Nationalist}}| 

| rowspan=2 | 100px

| rowspan=2 | Edward Mann
{{small|(1874–1951)}}

| nowrap | 16 December 1922
September 1929

| rowspan=2 | Lost seat

{{Australian party style|Independent}}| 

| nowrap | Independent Nationalist

| nowrap | September 1929 –
12 October 1929

{{Australian party style|Nationalist}}| 

| rowspan=2 | 100px

| rowspan=2 | Walter Nairn
{{small|(1879–1958)}}

| Nationalist

| nowrap | 12 October 1929
7 May 1931

| rowspan=2 | Served as Speaker during the Menzies, Fadden and Curtin Governments. Lost seat

{{Australian party style|UAP}}| 

| nowrap | United Australia

| nowrap | 7 May 1931 –
21 August 1943

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| 100px

| Tom Burke
{{small|(1910–1973)}}

| Labor

| nowrap | 21 August 1943
10 December 1955

| Lost seat

{{Australian party style|Liberal}}| 

| 100px

| Fred Chaney
{{small|(1914–2001)}}

| Liberal

| nowrap | 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

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| 100px

| Joe Berinson
{{small|(1932–2018)}}

| Labor

| nowrap | 25 October 1969
13 December 1975

| Served as minister under Whitlam. Lost seat. Later elected to the Western Australian Legislative Council in 1980

{{Australian party style|Liberal}}| 

| 100px

| Ross McLean
{{small|(1944–)}}

| Liberal

| nowrap | 13 December 1975
5 March 1983

| Lost seat

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| 100px

| Ric Charlesworth
{{small|(1952–)}}

| rowspan="5" | Labor

| nowrap | 5 March 1983
8 February 1993

| Retired

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| 100px

| Stephen Smith
{{small|(1955–)}}

| nowrap | 13 March 1993
5 August 2013

| Served as minister under Rudd and Gillard. Retired

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| 100px

| Alannah MacTiernan
{{small|(1953–)}}

| nowrap | 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

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| 100px

| Tim Hammond
{{small|(1975–)}}

| nowrap | 2 July 2016
10 May 2018

| Resigned to retire from politics

{{Australian party style|Labor}}| 

| 100px

| Patrick Gorman
{{small|(1984–)}}

| nowrap | 28 July 2018
present

| Incumbent

Election results

{{main|Electoral results for the Division of Perth}}

{{Excerpt|Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Western Australia|section=Perth}}

References

{{reflist}}