The Division of Durack is an
Australian Electoral Division in the
state
State may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State
* ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States
* ''Our S ...
of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
History
![Mary Durack](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Mary_Durack.png)
The Division is named after the pioneering Durack family, upon whom
Dame Mary Durack based her popular
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which the plot takes place in a setting related to the past events, but is fictional. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to other ty ...
s. Created to replace parts of the divisions of
Kalgoorlie
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...
(which was abolished) and
O'Connor, it elected its first member at the
2010 election.
It was created as a comfortably safe
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
seat. Sitting Kalgoorlie MP
Barry Haase
Barry Wayne Haase (born 19 November 1945) is a former Australian politician who served as a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to August 2013. He initially represented the Western Australian Division of ...
contested the seat for the Liberals and won. Haase announced he would not recontest Durack at the
next election on 15 June 2013. The seat was won at the 2013 election by Liberal candidate
Melissa Price. She held the seat without serious difficulty until the
2022 election, when she suffered a swing of over 10 percent to make the seat marginal for the first time.
Geography
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums.
Responsibilities
The AEC's main responsibility is to ...
. 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.
Durack includes the northern parts of Western Australia, including the northern and central parts of the
Wheatbelt, the
Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
,
Gascoyne
The Gascoyne region is one of the nine administrative regions of Western Australia. It is located in the northwest of Western Australia, and consists of the local government areas of Carnarvon, Exmouth, Shark Bay and Upper Gascoyne. The Gasc ...
,
Pilbara
The Pilbara () is a large, dry, thinly populated region in the north of Western Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal peoples; its ancient landscapes; the red earth; and its vast mineral deposits, in particular iron ore. It is also a glo ...
and the
Kimberley regions. Populated areas include the city of
Geraldton
Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth.
At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...
,
Broome,
Carnarvon,
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
,
Dongara,
Kalbarri,
Karratha,
Kununurra,
Meekatharra,
Merredin,
Moora,
Mukinbudin,
Narembeen,
Newman,
Port Hedland
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
and
Tom Price.
In August 2021, the
Australian Electoral Commission
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) is the independent federal agency in charge of organising, conducting and supervising federal Australian elections, by-elections and referendums.
Responsibilities
The AEC's main responsibility is to ...
(AEC) announced that Durack's
Wheatbelt Shires of
Bruce Rock
Bruce Rock is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, approximately east of Perth and southwest of Merredin. It is the main town in the Shire of Bruce Rock.
History
Originally known as Nunagin or Noonegin, the name of ...
,
Cunderdin,
Kellerberrin,
Koorda,
Kulin Kulin may refer to:
Places
*Kulin, Western Australia, a small town in Australia
** Shire of Kulin, a local government area
*Kulin, Iran, a village near Tehran
*Kulin, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, a village in south-west Poland
*Kulin, Kuyavian-Pome ...
,
Meekatharra,
Merredin,
Mount Marshall,
Mukinbudin,
Narembeen,
Nungarin,
Quairading
Quairading is a Western Australian town located in the Wheatbelt region. It is the seat of government for the Shire of Quairading.
History
The town was named for Quairading Spring, derived from a local Aboriginal word recorded in 1872 by s ...
,
Tammin,
Trayning,
Westonia,
Wyalkatchem and
Yilgarn and Durack's
Mid West
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
Shire of
Wiluna would be transferred to the seat of
O'Connor, while the Wheatbelt Shires of
Chittering,
Gingin,
Northam,
Toodyay and
York
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...
would be transferred to Durack from the seat of
Pearce Pearce may refer to:
Places
*Pearce, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb
*Division of Pearce, an electoral division in Western Australia
*Pearce, Arizona, United States, an unincorporated community
*RAAF Base Pearce, the main Royal Australian Ai ...
. These boundary changes took effect with the
next federal election.
At 1,383,954 km
2 (over 54 per cent of the landmass of
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
), Durack is the largest electorate in Australia by land area, the largest constituency in the world that practices compulsory voting, and the fourth largest single-member electorate in the world after
Yakutsk
Yakutsk (russian: Якутск, p=jɪˈkutsk; sah, Дьокуускай, translit=Djokuuskay, ) is the capital city of the Sakha Republic, Russia, located about south of the Arctic Circle. Fueled by the mining industry, Yakutsk has become one of ...
in Russia,
Nunavut
Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
in Canada, and
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
in the United States.
Durack: the electorate bigger than many countries still finds it hard to get noticed
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', 14 May 2016 It is also larger than all Australian states and territories except for Western Australia itself, Queensland and the Northern Territory.
Members
Election results
See also
*Electoral district of North West Central
North West Central is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.
The district is mostly based in the rural north-west of Western Australia. It is currently a marginal seat for the Nationals ...
for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Western Australian Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Western Australia, an Australian state. The Parliament sits in Parliament House in the Western Australian capital, Perth.
The Legisla ...
, the largest electoral division by area in Western Australia
References
External links
Division of Durack - Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durack, Division of
Electoral divisions of Australia
Constituencies established in 2010
2010 establishments in Australia
Federal politics in Western Australia