Electoral district of Nedlands

Infobox Australian Electorate
name = Nedlands
state = wa


caption =
lifespan = 1930–present
mp = Sue Walker
mp-party = Independent
namesake = Nedlands
area = 26.7
class = North Metropolitan

The Electoral district of Nedlands is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. Nedlands is named for the inner western Perth suburb of Nedlands which falls within its borders.

History

Nedlands was created at the 1929 redistribution, at which five new metropolitan electorates were created to replace former Goldfields seats in Parliament. [cite book|title=Statutes of Western Australia, 1929-1930|author=Government of Western Australia|year=1930|pages=1-56|chapter=Redistribution of Seats Act (No 1 of 1929) Given assent on 15 April 1929.] Its first member was elected at the 1930 election, and it has always been a safe seat for the Liberal Party and its predecessors. [cite book|last=Black|first=David|coauthors=Prescott, Valerie|title=Election statistics, Legislative Assembly of Western Australia, 1890-1996|year=1997|publisher=Parliamentary History Project and Western Australian Electoral Commission|location=Perth|id=ISBN 0-7309-8409-5|pages=242-246] Its first member, Norbert Keenan, was an Attorney-General, whilst two of its members, Sir Charles Court and his son Richard Court who between them held the seat for 48 consecutive years, have been State Premiers (1974–1982 and 1993–2001 respectively), making them one of only three father-son combinations in Australia to have achieved this (including the Butlers in South Australia and the Cains in Victoria). [cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/elections/wa/2005/guide/nedl.htm|title=Western Australia Election 2005: Nedlands|last=Green|first=Antony|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)|date=5 April 2005|accessdate=2008-08-05]

Recent history

At the 2001 state election, the Labor Party won government and Court's own margin was cut to 4.93% by Independent candidate Liz Davenport, a prominent fashion designer and member of the Liberals for Forests party. [cite web |url=http://www.waec.wa.gov.au/elections/state_elections/election_results/2001_State_General_Election/District_of_Nedlands/polling_place_results.php |title=2001 State General Election – District of Nedlands Results |date= 12 March 2001 |publisher=Western Australian Electoral Commission
accessdate=2008-02-10] In the days after the election, Court was attempting to organise a succession whereby he would resign, federal Curtin MP Julie Bishop would resign her seat, then succeed him in Nedlands at a state by-election and assume the Liberal leadership in his stead. The aim was to prevent Cottesloe MLA and deputy leader Colin Barnett from assuming the role. [cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/stories/s249972.htm |title=Schism forms after secret leadership deal |date=21 February 2001 |author=Peter Kennedy |publisher=Lateline |accessdate=2008-02-10] However, the plan ended up on the front page of "The West Australian", Bishop denied all knowledge, and Court shortly thereafter resigned both the leadership and his seat. [cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s250966.htm |title=Court resigns as WA Liberal leader |date=23 February 2001 |author=David Weber |publisher=PM |accessdate=2008-02-10 ] At the resulting by-election in 2001, Sue Walker, a DPP lawyer, won the seat for the Liberals against the unrelated Steve Walker, a Greens candidate, who overtook the ALP on preferences.

Walker served in the Shadow Ministry in a variety of roles, most prominently as Shadow Attorney-General. When Matt Birney attempted to remove her from the Ministry in March 2006, he lost his own leadership in a party-room ballot to Paul Omodei, who immediately reinstated her. [cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/wa/content/2006/s1596106.htm|title=Matt Birney's fight for the leadership|date=17 March 2006|work=Stateline (ABC)|accessdate=2008-08-05] [cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/stateline/wa/content/2006/s1602701.htm|title=New leader Paul Omodei's vision for the Liberal Party|date=24 March 2006|work=Stateline (ABC)|accessdate=2008-08-05] Walker resigned from the Liberal party on 8 February 2008 after Troy Buswell attained the leadership, and has sat as an independent thereafter. She has expressed an intention to contest the upcoming election, and has significant local support in doing so. [cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/02/08/2157580.htm |title=Walker announces she's quitting, via local paper |date= 8 February 2008 |publisher=ABC News |accessdate=2008-02-08] [cite news |url=http://www.postnewspapers.com.au/20080209/news/001.shtml |title=Walker walks |date= 9 February 2008 | author=Bret Christian |publisher=Post Newspapers |accessdate=2008-02-10]

Geography

Nedlands is bounded by the Swan River to the south and southeast, Thomas Street and Kings Park to the east, Loch Street and Brockway Road to the west, and Cambridge Street to the north. Its boundaries include the suburbs of Crawley, Daglish, Dalkeith, Jolimont, Nedlands, Shenton Park, Subiaco, West Leederville, along with parts of Floreat and Wembley. [cite web|url=http://www.boundarieswa.com/2007/Final-Boundaries/North-Metropolitan/Nedlands/|title=2007 Electoral Distribution - Final Boundaries - North Metropolitan - Nedlands|author=Western Australian Electoral Commission|date=29 October 2007|accessdate=2008-08-05] Major features within the electorate include Subiaco Oval, Karrakatta Cemetery, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, University of Western Australia and Parliament House.

The 2007 redistribution, which took effect at the 2008 election, resulted in the seat losing most of Wembley and all of West Leederville while gaining part of Floreat and a non-residential section of Shenton Park north of the railway. [cite web|url=http://www.boundarieswa.com/2003/Boundaries/North-Metropolitan/Nedlands/|title=2003 Electoral Distribution - Final Boundaries - North Metropolitan - Nedlands|author=Western Australian Electoral Commission|date=4 August 2003|accessdate=2008-08-05]

Demographics

Nedlands and the neighbouring electorates of Churchlands to the north and Cottesloe to the west comprise the affluent western suburbs of Perth—the Australian Bureau of Statistics's SEIFA index (2001) ranked them as the highest three electorates by socio-economic status in Western Australia, with high scores on educational and employment opportunity. At the 2006 census, the median individual income in the Nedlands electorate, based on its 2005 boundaries, was $666 per week compared to $513 in the Perth metropolitan area, and the median weekly household income was $1,392 compared to $1,086 across Perth. 58.7% of the population were professionals or managers. [Census 2006 AUS|id=SED54004|name=Nedlands (North Metropolitan) (State Electoral Division)|accessdate=2008-08-05
* Census 2006 AUS|id=505|name=Perth (Statistical Division)|accessdate=2008-08-05]

Members for Nedlands

Results

Election box begin
title=State Election 2005: NedlandsElection box candidate AU party
candidate = Sue Walker
party = Liberal
votes = 12,912
percentage = 51.89
change = +2.71

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Chris Hondros
party = Labor
votes = 6,876
percentage = 27.63
change = +8.56

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Tom Wilson
party = Greens
votes = 3,944
percentage = 15.85
change = +9.16

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Gail Forder
party = Christian Democrats
votes = 707
percentage = 2.84
change = +2.84

Election box candidate AU party
candidate = Brian Langenberg
party = Family First
votes = 446
percentage = 1.79
change = +1.79

Election box formal
votes = 24,885
percentage = 96.45
change = -1.00

Election box informal
votes = 915
percentage = 3.55
change = +1.00

Election box turnout
votes = 25,800
percentage = 90.28
change = +2.23

Election box candidate AU party
party = Liberal
candidate = Sue Walker
votes = 14,533
percentage = 58.43
change = -0.7

Election box candidate AU party
party = Labor
candidate = Chris Hondros
votes = 10,388
percentage = 41.57
change = +0.7

Election box hold AU party
winner = Liberal
swing = 3.50

References

External links

* [http://www.abc.net.au/elections/wa/2005/guide/nedl.htm Electorate Profile] (Antony Green, ABC)