Division of Stirling

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Stirling is an Australian federal electoral division in the inner northern and beachside suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It comprises approximately 76 sq km, including the suburbs of Balcatta, Balga, Carine, Innaloo, Nollamara, North Beach, Scarborough, Stirling, Trigg and Yokine. This makes it one of Australia's smaller federal electorates.

[edit] About the electorate

The electorate was created in a 1955 redistribution, and was named after Sir James Stirling, a 19th-century lieutenant governor and governor of Western Australia. Stirling covers a demographically diverse area, including several affluent beachside suburbs, as well as some poorer areas further inland. As a result, Stirling has often been a marginal seat, swinging between the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal Party of Australia.

Unlike some marginal seats on the east coast, such as Eden-Monaro, Stirling has not often been seen as a barometer for winning government, as although probably a result of coincidence, its members have more often than not been in opposition.

Opinion polls in the leadup to the 2004 election had suggested a close result in Stirling, leaning towards the possibility of sitting Labor member Jann McFarlane retaining her seat. This had been thought to be more likely after Paul Afkos, the original Liberal candidate, was forced to resign after he was revealed to have borrowed money from a convicted drug dealer. A local businessman, Michael Keenan was brought in as his replacement, and maintained the close difference in polling. However, on election day, the swing to the Liberal Party statewide and nationwide was stronger than expected, and Keenan was ultimately successful in unseating MacFarlane. The Stirling Times, a local newspaper, speculated in October 2006 that MacFarlane, currently a Stirling councillor, may contest the seat again in 2007. On 28 November 2006 former SAS officer and outspoken opponent of the Iraq War Peter Tinley accepted an offer from Kim Beazley to run as the ALP candidate in the 2007 election.[1]