Division of Fremantle

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.

History

The division was created at Federation in 1900 and was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election. It is named for the city of Fremantle, which in turn is named for Captain Charles Fremantle, captain of HMS Challenger, who took formal possession of the west coast of New Holland in the name of His Majesty the King. This action cleared the way for the arrival of Captain James Stirling and the first party of Swan River Colony settlers a few weeks later.

As originally drawn, the Division of Fremantle included nearly all of Perth's south-of-the-river suburbs, plus the western suburbs south from Mt Claremont and Nedlands. On these boundaries, the seat frequently changed hands between the Australian Labor Party and the conservative parties for the first three decades of its existence. However, Labor has held the seat without interruption since 1934, and for all but one term since 1928. The 1949 expansion of Parliament made Fremantle even safer for Labor by shifting most of its northern portion to the newly created Division of Curtin. Since then, it has usually been one of the safest Labor seats in Australia. It was nearly lost in the landslides of 1975 and 1977, but since the 1980 redistribution when the suburbs of Mosman Park, Peppermint Grove and Cottesloe were transferred to the Division of Curtin, the Liberals have only twice garnered 45 percent of the two-party vote, in 1996 and 2013.

Since World War II, Fremantle has been held by a succession of senior Labor figures. The seat's best-known member was John Curtin, who was Prime Minister from 1941 to 1945. Other high-profile members were Kim Beazley Sr., a minister in the Whitlam government; John Dawkins, a minister in the Hawke and Keating governments; and Carmen Lawrence, who served as the Premier of Western Australia from 1990 to 1993 and who subsequently served as a minister in the Keating government. Lawrence retired at the 2007 election. She was succeeded by Melissa Parke, a former United Nations lawyer and a minister in the second Rudd government.

In the 2021 redistribution, the electoral boundaries of Fremantle were left unchanged. Consequently, the 2016 boundaries continued to apply as of the 2022 election.

Location

The Division is located in the southern suburbs of Perth. As at the 2022 election, it includes the following suburbs:

[[City of Cockburn]]

• Atwell
• Aubin Grove
• Banjup
• Beeliar
• Bibra Lake
• Cockburn Central
• Coogee
• Coolbellup
• Hamilton Hill
• Hammond Park
• Henderson
• Jandakot
• Lake Coogee
• Munster
• North Coogee
• North Lake
• Rottnest Island
• South Lake
• Spearwood
• Success
• Treeby
• Wattleup
• Yangebup

[[Town of East Fremantle]]

• East Fremantle

[[City of Fremantle]]

• Beaconsfield
• Fremantle
• Hilton
• North Fremantle
• O'Connor
• Samson
• South Fremantle
• White Gum Valley

[[City of Melville]]

• Palmyra
• Kardinya (part)
• Leeming (part)

Members

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the Division of Fremantle

References

References

1. (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide".
2. (5 November 1828). "Instructions to the Admiralty to take formal possession of the western portion of the continent". Museum of Australian Democracy.
3. (2010). "Initial boundaries - 1901 & 1903 elections". John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library.
4. (2010). "Changing boundaries: 1977 redistribution - 1977 elections 1980 part redistribution". John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library.
5. "Australian Electoral Commission - Profile of the Division of Fremantle".