Fremantle
Australian House of Representatives Division
Division of Fremantle in Western Australia, as of the 2021 redistribution.
Created1901
MPJosh Wilson
PartyLabor
NamesakeFremantle
Electors116,905 (2022)
Area196 km2 (75.7 sq mi)
DemographicInner metropolitan

The Division of Fremantle is an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives in Western Australia.

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.[1]

History

The city of Fremantle, the division's namesake

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.[2]

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.[3] 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,[4] 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, the former Premier of Western Australia and 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:[5]

City of Cockburn

Town of East Fremantle

City of Fremantle

City of Melville

Members

Image Member Party Term Notes
  Elias Solomon
(1839–1909)		 Free Trade 29 March 1901 –
16 December 1903		 Previously held the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of South Fremantle. Lost seat
  William Carpenter
(1863–1930)		 Labour 16 December 1903 –
12 December 1906		 Previously held the South Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Encounter Bay. Lost seat. Later elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Fremantle in 1911
  William Hedges
(1856–1935)		 Anti-Socialist 12 December 1906 –
26 May 1909		 Lost seat
  Liberal 26 May 1909 –
31 May 1913
  Reginald Burchell
(1883–1955)		 Labor 31 May 1913 –
14 November 1916		 Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Hughes. Retired
  National Labor 14 November 1916 –
17 February 1917
  Nationalist 17 February 1917 –
6 November 1922
  William Watson
(1864–1938)		 Independent 16 December 1922 –
9 October 1928		 Retired
  John Curtin
(1885–1945)		 Labor 17 November 1928 –
19 December 1931		 Lost seat
  William Watson
(1864–1938)		 United Australia 19 December 1931 –
7 August 1934		 Retired
  John Curtin
(1885–1945)		 Labor 15 September 1934 –
5 July 1945		 Served as Opposition Leader from 1935 to 1941. Served as Prime Minister from 1941 to 1945. Died in office
  Kim Beazley
(1917–2007)		 Labor 18 August 1945 –
10 November 1977		 Served as minister under Whitlam. Retired
  John Dawkins
(1947–)		 Labor 10 December 1977 –
4 February 1994		 Previously held the Division of Tangney. Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Resigned to retire from politics
  Carmen Lawrence
(1948–)		 Labor 12 March 1994 –
17 October 2007		 Former Premier of Western Australia, previously held the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Glendalough. Served as minister under Keating. Retired
  Melissa Parke
(1966–)		 Labor 24 November 2007 –
9 May 2016		 Served as minister under Rudd. Retired
  Josh Wilson
(1972–)		 Labor 2 July 2016 –
10 May 2018		 Election results declared void due to dual citizenship. Subsequently re-elected. Incumbent
  28 July 2018 –
present

Election results

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2022 Australian federal election in Western Australia § Fremantle.[edit]
2022 Australian federal election: Fremantle[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labor Josh Wilson 43,111 43.97 +5.95
Liberal Bill Koul 23,749 24.22 −10.75
Greens Felicity Townsend 17,790 18.14 +2.14
One Nation William Edgar 3,060 3.12 −0.71
Great Australian Ben Tilbury 2,293 2.34 +2.34
Western Australia Janetia Knapp 2,248 2.29 −0.27
United Australia Stella Jinman 2,000 2.04 +0.10
Australian Federation Cathy Gavranich 1,367 1.39 +1.39
Liberal Democrats Yan Loh 1,251 1.28 +1.28
Socialist Alliance Sam Wainwright 1,184 1.21 +0.12
Total formal votes 98,053 94.21 −0.39
Informal votes 6,025 5.79 +0.39
Turnout 104,078 89.12 −2.11
Two-party-preferred result
Labor Josh Wilson 65,585 66.89 +9.97
Liberal Bill Koul 32,468 33.11 −9.97
Labor hold Swing+9.97

References

  1. ↑ Muller, Damon (14 November 2017). "The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  2. ↑ "Instructions to the Admiralty to take formal possession of the western portion of the continent". Documenting a Democracy. Museum of Australian Democracy. 5 November 1828. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  3. ↑ Black, David (2010). "Initial boundaries - 1901 & 1903 elections". The Federal Electorate of Fremantle - a History since 1901. John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  4. ↑ Black, David (2010). "Changing boundaries: 1977 redistribution - 1977 elections 1980 part redistribution". The Federal Electorate of Fremantle - a History since 1901. John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  5. ↑ "Australian Electoral Commission - Profile of the Division of Fremantle".
  6. ↑ Fremantle, WA, 2022 Tally Room, Australian Electoral Commission.

32°06′11″S 115°47′24″E / 32.103°S 115.790°E / -32.103; 115.790

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