Electoral district of Geraldton

Geraldton
Western Australia—Legislative Assembly
State Western Australia
Dates current 1890–present
MP Ian Blayney
Party Liberal
Namesake Geraldton
Area 1,796 km2 (693.4 sq mi)
Demographic Agricultural

Geraldton is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.

Geraldton was one of the original 30 seats contested at the 1890 colonial election. The district is based on the eponymous regional city.

Labor held throughout most of the twentieth century, Geraldton has since become a seat that has changed hands regularly in the last two decades.

Geography

The district has always been based on the regional coastal city of Geraldton. Electoral reform ahead of the 2008 state election necessitated an increase in the district's enrolment and thus an expansion of its boundaries, as it did for all non-metropolitan districts. This means the district now includes all outlying suburbs of the city, as well as adjacent rural areas. The district's current boundaries are identical with the former City of Geraldton-Greenough, itself a newly formed local government area.

History

Geraldton changed hands frequently between different members and parties during the early history of the seat in the late 19th and early 20th century. After 1914 however, the seat was held by the Labor Party for all but three of the next 77 years. The seat's longest serving and most famous member was John Willcock, member from 1917 to 1947 and Premier of Western Australia from 1936 to 1945.

The resignation of Labor member Jeff Carr following his sacking as minister in 1991 triggered a by-election that was won by Liberal Bob Bloffwitch, the seat's first non-Labor member in more than four decades. Bloffwitch held the seat at the subsequent 1993 state election, when the Liberal Party won government. The seat changed hands with the next change of government at the 2001 state election when Labor candidate Shane Hill was elected. Hill held the seat for two terms before Liberal Ian Blayney won it with a change of government at the 2008 state election. In fact the redistribution prior to that election had turned the seat into a notionally Liberal seat.

Members for Geraldton

MemberPartyTerm
  Edward Keane 1890–1891
  George Simpson Opposition 1891–1899
  Richard Robson Independent 1899–1900
  Robert Hutchinson Opposition 1900–1904
  Henry Carson Ministerial 1904–1906
  Thomas Brown Labor 1906–1908
  Henry Carson Ministerial 1908–1911
  Bronte Dooley Labor 1911–1913
  Samuel Elliott Liberal (WA) 1913–1914
  Edward Heitmann Labor 1914–1917
  National Labor 1917
  Samuel Elliott Liberal (WA) 1917
  John Willcock Labor 1917–1947
  Edmund Hall Country 1947–1950
  Bill Sewell Labor 1950–1974
  Jeff Carr Labor 1974–1991
  Bob Bloffwitch Liberal 1991–2001
  Shane Hill Labor 2001–2008
  Ian Blayney Liberal 2008–present

Election results

Western Australian state election, 2013: Geraldton
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Ian Blayney 9,167 47.6 +10.7
WA Nationals Shane Van Styn 5,081 26.4 +7.1
Labor Kathryn Mannion 3,299 17.1 –12.0
Greens Paul Connolly 1,239 6.4 +0.7
Christians Carmen Burdett 469 2.4 –0.6
Total formal votes 19,255 94.3 –1.3
Informal votes 1,161 5.7 +1.3
Turnout 20,416 89.7
Two-party-preferred result
Liberal Ian Blayney 14,013 72.8 +14.3
Labor Kathryn Mannion 5,223 27.2 –14.3
Two-candidate-preferred result
Liberal Ian Blayney 11,711 60.9 +2.4
WA Nationals Shane Van Styn 7,517 39.1 +39.1
Liberal hold Swing +2.4

References

    External links

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