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 Australia—Legislative Assembly
Location of Swan Hills (dark green) in the Perth metropolitan area
State	Western Australia
Dates current	1989–present
MP	Jessica Shaw
Party	Labor
Namesake	Swan Valley; Perth Hills
Electors	28,392 (2019)
Area	987 km^2 (381.1 sq mi)
Demographic	East Metropolitan

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

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

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

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

2017 Western Australian state election: Swan Hills[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Jessica Shaw	14,335	52.2	+11.8
	Liberal	Frank Alban	7,388	26.9	−22.2
	One Nation	Sandra Old	3,011	11.0	+11.0
	Greens	Evan Webb	1,921	7.0	+0.2
	Micro Business	Lucky Singh	512	1.9	+1.9
	Matheson for WA	Danusha Bhowaniah	275	1.0	+1.0
Total formal votes			27,442	95.7	+1.3
Informal votes			1,231	4.3	−1.3
Turnout			28,673	88.0	+8.0
Two-party-preferred result
	Labor	Jessica Shaw	17,703	64.5	+18.3
	Liberal	Frank Alban	9,734	35.5	−18.3
	Labor gain from Liberal		Swing	+18.3

References

1. http://www.boundaries.wa.gov.au/electoral-boundaries/2015-proposed-boundaries
2. Swan Hills District Profile and Results, 2017 State General Election, WAEC.

External links

• ABC Election Profiles: 2005 2008
• WAEC District Maps: 1996–2005 2005–2008 2008–