Electoral district of Swan Hills

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

Swan Hills
Western AustraliaLegislative Assembly
Location of Swan Hills (dark green) in the Perth metropolitan area
StateWestern Australia
Dates current1989–present
MPJessica Shaw
PartyLabor
NamesakeSwan Valley; Perth Hills
Electors30,263 (2021)
Area1,334 km2 (515.1 sq mi)
DemographicMetropolitan
Electorates around Swan Hills:
Moore Moore Moore
Wanneroo Swan Hills Central Wheatbelt
Midland
West Swan
Kalamunda Central Wheatbelt

The district is located in the outer north-east of Perth.

Swan Hills is a marginal seat. It has been held by the government of the day on every occasion since its creation in 1989.

Geography

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Based in the north-east corner of Perth's Metropolitan Region Scheme, Swan Hills covers large parts of the Swan Valley and Darling Scarp. The district takes in the communities of Aveley, Bailup, Belhus, Brigadoon, Bullsbrook, Chidlow Ellenbrook, Gidgegannup, Melaleuca, Mount Helena, Sawyers Valley, The Vines, Upper Swan and Wooroloo.[1]

History

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First contested at the 1989 state election, Swan Hills was created to replace the abolished seat of Mundaring. It was won on that occasion by Labor MP Gavan Troy, who had been the member for Mundaring since 1983. Troy retired at the 1993 state election, and the seat was picked up by the Liberal candidate June van de Klashorst when her party won government at the same election.

Two terms later, at the 2001 state election the seat again changed hands with a change of government. The new Labor MP was 24-year-old Jaye Radisich. Radisich retired at the 2008 state election, having failed to win Labor endorsement to contest a safer seat. The seat was then gained by Liberal candidate Frank Alban, continuing the pattern of seat going with the party that wins government.

Radisich died of cancer in 2012, and Labor recruited her brother, Ian Radisich, to challenge Alban at the 2013 state election. However, Alban easily won re-election as the Liberal-National government retained office with an increased majority. Alban was defeated by Jessica Shaw in the 2017 election by a large margin.

Members for Swan Hills

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Member Party Term
  Gavan Troy Labor 1989–1993
  June van de Klashorst Liberal 1993–2001
  Jaye Radisich Labor 2001–2008
  Frank Alban Liberal 2008–2017
  Jessica Shaw Labor 2017–present

Election results

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2021 Western Australian state election: Swan Hills[2]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Jessica Shaw 17,255 69.8 +20.4
Liberal Rod Henderson 4,571 18.5 −9.6
Greens Melanye Wawrik 1,189 4.8 −2.7
No Mandatory Vaccination Timothy Bunton 782 3.2 +3.2
Christians Magdeleen Strauss 675 2.7 +2.5
WAxit Asif Ali 256 1.0 −0.6
Total formal votes 24,728 95.2 −0.5
Informal votes 1,245 4.8 +0.5
Turnout 25,973 85.8 +8.1
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Jessica Shaw 19,069 77.1 +15.0
Liberal Rod Henderson 5,655 22.9 −15.0
Labor hold Swing +15.0

References

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  1. ^ "Proposed boundaries". gov.au. 2015. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  2. ^ 2021 State General Election – Swan Hills District Results, WAEC
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