Electoral district of Leschenault

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Leschenault is an Electoral district of Western Australia. As in other districts, the Leschenault district elects a single person to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The elected person is then known as the Member for Leschenault, and is said to hold the seat of Leschenault. As of 1996, the Member for Leschenault is Dan Sullivan who holds the seat for the Liberal Party by a margin of 9.9%. The seat in 2009 is expected to be retained by the Liberal Party.

[edit] Profile

Rapidly growing district covering the new housing estates that spread north from Bunbury between the Leschenault Estuary and the Australind Bypass. Localities include Leschenault, Australind, Clifton Park, Eaton and Glen Iris. The electorate covers 88 km². Electoral enrolment in this seat has risen more than 10% over the past two and a half years.

[edit] History

This is the new name for the abolished seat of Mitchell, which was first created as the second Bunbury-based seat before the 1983 election. Labor won Mitchell at its first contest, holding the seat beyond the change of government in 1993 until it was lost to Liberal Dan Sullivan in 1996. Mitchell recorded a remarkable 5% swing to the Liberal Party in 2001 while neighbouring Bunbury swung 6.8% to Labor. The old Mitchell had seen a rapid population growth between 1996 and 2001, and this is reflected in the new boundaries for Leschenault, which have contracted to cover only the urban areas north of Bunbury.