Electoral district of South Perth

South Perth is an Electoral district of Western Australia. As in other districts, the South Perth district elects a single person to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. The elected person is then known as the Member for South Perth, and is said to hold the seat of South Perth. As of 2005, the Member for South Perth is John McGrath who holds the seat for the Liberal Party by a margin of 5.8%.

Profile

Across the Swan River from the Perth CBD, the electoral district of South Perth covers 24 km² on the point of the peninsula between the Swan and Canning Rivers. It includes all of the suburbs of Como, Karawarra, Manning, Salter point, South Perth and Waterford, and parts of the suburbs of Bentley, East Victoria Park, Kensington and St James.cite web|url=http://boundarieswa.com/2003/Boundaries/South-Metropolitan/South-Perth/Post.aspx|title=South Perth Electoral District|author=Western Australia Electoral Commission|year=|accessdate=2007-04-25]

History

South Perth was held for many years by Bill Grayden. He spent a total of 39 years in the Western Australian Parliament, and another five in the Australian House of Representatives. On his retirement in 1993, his son John contested the seat as an Independent, another son James having been defeated for Liberal Party pre-selection. Labor chose not to run a candidate. The Liberal Party's Phillip Pendal successfully completed his transition from the Legislative Council after the initial Liberal candidate withdrew in unusual circumstances. However, the historic antipathy between Pendal and the Court dynasty saw him overlooked for a position in the Ministry. Increasingly disenchanted with the party's factionalism, he resigned to sit as an Independent in 1994, re-elected with ALP preferences in both 1996 and 2001.

On Pendal's retirement from politics, Liberal endorsement for South Perth was vigorously contested by the two leading factions in the Liberal Party.

James (Jim) Grayden, who was not aligned with any faction in the Liberal Party, again sought Liberal preselection without success. Grayden resigned from the Liberal Party and contested the election as a genuine independent after expressing his disatisfaction with internal practices concerning the preselection process. Pendal chose to support the endorsed Liberal candidate.

References