The Division of O'Connor 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 ...
. It is one of Western Australia's three rural seats, and one of the largest electoral constituencies in the world.
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.
History
![C Y O'Connor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/C_Y_O%27Connor.jpg)
The division was named after
Charles Yelverton O'Connor
Charles Yelverton O'Connor, (11 January 1843 – 10 March 1902), was an Irish engineer who is best known for his work in Western Australia, especially the construction of Fremantle Harbour, thought to be impossible, and the Goldfields Water Su ...
, the Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia most famously known for designing the
Fremantle Harbour
Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval vi ...
and the
Goldfields Pipeline
The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was commis ...
. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 28 February 1980, and was first contested at the
1980 federal election. It has always been a country seat.
For its first three decades, it took in large portions of 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 ...
,
Wheatbelt and
Great Southern regions of Western Australia with major population centres in
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. ...
and
Albany. The division was significantly altered by a redistribution in 2008, taking effect at the
2010 election. The other large country seat in Western Australia,
Kalgoorlie, already the largest single-member electorate in the world, needed to expand in size. However, it soon became apparent that redistributing Kalgoorlie would have made it all but impossible to reconfigure O'Connor in a way that it would have had any rational basis. Ultimately, it was decided to abolish Kalgoorlie and push O'Connor well to the east to take in most of Kalgoorlie's former southern portion, including the city of Kalgoorlie itself. The northern portion of the old O'Connor was shifted to the new seat of
Durack.
It is now centred on the Great Southern and
Goldfields-Esperance regions of the state (while incorporating the southern Wheatbelt), with major population centres in
Albany,
Kalgoorlie and
Esperance. Local government areas within the electorate as at the
2016 election include
Albany,
Boyup Brook,
Bridgetown-Greenbushes,
Brookton,
Broomehill-Tambellup,
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 ...
,
Collie
Collies form a distinctive type of herding dogs, including many related landraces and standardized breeds. The type originated in Scotland and Northern England. Collies are medium-sized, fairly lightly-built dogs, with pointed snouts. Man ...
,
Coolgardie,
Corrigin,
Cranbrook,
Cuballing,
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
,
Dumbleyung,
Dundas,
Esperance,
Gnowangerup,
Jerramungup,
Kalgoorlie-Boulder
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 include ...
,
Katanning,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
Kojonup,
Kondinin,
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 ...
,
Lake Grace
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much larger ...
,
Laverton,
Leonora,
Manjimup,
Menzies
Menzies is a Scottish surname, with Gaelic forms being Méinnearach and Méinn, and other variant forms being Menigees, Mennes, Mengzes, Menzeys, Mengies, and Minges.
Derivation and history
The name and its Gaelic form are probably derived f ...
,
Narembeen,
Narrogin,
Ngaanyatjarraku,
Pingelly,
Plantagenet
The House of Plantagenet () was a royal house which originated from the lands of Anjou in France. The family held the English throne from 1154 (with the accession of Henry II at the end of the Anarchy) to 1485, when Richard III died in ...
,
Ravensthorpe Ravensthorpe may refer to any of the following places.
England
*Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury in West Yorkshire
**Ravensthorpe railway station, Dewsbury
*Ravensthorpe, Northamptonshire
*Ravensthorpe, Peterborough in Cambridgeshire
*Ravensthorpe, an histor ...
,
Wagin,
Wandering,
West Arthur,
Wickepin,
Williams and
Woodanilling.
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 O'Connor would receive the
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 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 ...
Shire of
Wiluna from the seat of
Durack, while it would also receive the Wheatbelt Shire of
Beverley
Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...
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 ...
and the
South West
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
Shires of
Boddington and
Nannup from the seats of
Canning and
Forrest, respectively. These boundary changes will take place as of the next Australian federal election.
The seat has always been held by a conservative party. When it was created, its demographics suggested that it should have been held by the
National Country Party
The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is an Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a fe ...
, despite its large notional
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 ...
majority. However, severe conflict between rival branches of the
state National Party allowed Liberal
Wilson Tuckey
Charles Wilson Tuckey (born 10 July 1935) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1980 to 2010, representing the seat of O'Connor in Western Australia for the Liberal Party. He was a minister in ...
to take the seat on
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
preferences.
[http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/1980/1980repswa.txt ] Tuckey held it without serious difficulty until his defeat at the
2010 election by Nationals WA candidate
Tony Crook with a large swing. However, the Liberals regained the seat at the
2013 election.
Members
Election results
References
External links
Division of O'Connor - Australian Electoral Commission
{{DEFAULTSORT:OConnor, Division of
Electoral divisions of Australia
Constituencies established in 1980
1980 establishments in Australia
Federal politics in Western Australia