Electoral district of Wanneroo

Wanneroo is an Electoral district of Western Australia. As in other districts, the Wanneroo district elects a single person to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The elected person is then known as the Member for Wanneroo, and is said to hold the seat of Wanneroo. As of 2005, the Member for Wanneroo is Dianne Guise who holds the seat for the Labor Party by a margin of 6.7%.

Profile

Wanneroo is the outermost northern suburban seat in Perth taking in some nearby rural areas as well as new suburbs such as Carramar, Banksia, Merriwa, Butler and parts of Quinns Rocks, as well as the coastal settlements of Two Rocks and Yanchep. It also includes Wanneroo and new subdivisions at Landsdale. Wanneroo is Perth's most rapidly growing seat and will probably see several more splits as the Alkimos-Eglinton corridor opens up between Yanchep and Butler. The electorate is considered marginal, and apart from tiny Banksia Grove (safe ALP), no consistent pattern over time emerges at local level.

History

This is a seat that covers areas that tend to swing with changes of government. First created in 1989 when it was won by Labor, Wanneroo was gained for the Liberal Party by local councillor and former policeman Wayde Smith in 1993. An associate of disgraced former Wanneroo Mayor Dr Wayne Bradshaw, Smith ran into problems with corruption allegations raised in the Wanneroo inquiry. He devoted enough attention to the numbers in the local branches to retain pre-selection, but the Liberal Party's State Executive refused to endorse him, Smith leaving Parliament in 1996 after one eventful but undistinguished term. His successor Iain MacLean had previously served in the Legislative Council and was defeated by Labor's Dianne Guise with the next change of government in 2001.

Members