Balcatta is an

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state 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 ...

. The district is based in Perth's northern suburbs. A historically safe

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 labour ...

seat, it was held by the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

for one term between 2013 and 2017.

Geography

Balcatta is located in Perth's northern suburbs. It is a north-to-south elongated electorate, squeezed in between the

Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of State Route 2, which continues south as Kwinana Freeway and Forrest High ...

to the west and

Wanneroo Road Wanneroo Road is a arterial highway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia linking Joondanna and Yokine in the south with Wanneroo and Yanchep in the north. As part of State Route 60, it begins from Charles Street in the inner ...

to the east. The district includes the suburbs of Balcatta,

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

Tuart Hill ''Eucalyptus gomphocephala'', known as tuart, is a species of tree, one of the six forest giants of Southwest Australia. Tuart forest was common on the Swan coastal plain, until the valuable trees were felled for export and displaced by the urba ...

, Joondanna and

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

as well as all parts of Osborne Park east of the Mitchell Freeway.

History

Balcatta has had several incarnations as an electoral district. It has been held by the Labor Party on every occasion, other than a single term from 1905 to 1908. The first incarnation of the seat, established by the ''Redistribution of Seats Act 1904'', was spelt "Balkatta" in some sources and "Balcatta" in others. It extended all the way from modern-day

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

Herdsman Lake Herdsman Lake ( nys, Njookenbooro), also known as Herdsmans Lake, is a freshwater lake located on the Swan Coastal Plain, north-west of Perth, Western Australia, in the suburb of Herdsman. The main shared use path around the lake is approxima ...

, and was won by

's Frederick Gill at its first election in August 1904. However, the

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and Cabinet (government), cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or Coalition government, coalition of parties do ...

of which he was part, referred to in the press as a "Mark-Time Ministry", collapsed a year later, and Gill and a number of other Labor members lost their seats in the 1905 election to Ministerial candidates. John Veryard held the seat for a single term, losing it to Gill in 1908. The seat was then abolished by the ''Redistribution of Seats Act 1911'', with most of it going to form the new seat of Leederville, which Gill subsequently won. A new district of Balcatta was created ahead of the 1962 state election, and was won by Labor's

Herb Graham Herbert Ernst Graham (6 April 1911 – 17 March 1982) was an Australian politician. Biography Graham was born in Narrogin, Western Australia on 6 April 1911 to parents from South Australia. Graham attended school in Narrogin and Northam. H ...

, who for the previous 19 years had been the member for

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

, which was abolished at the redistribution. Graham represented the district for over a decade, before retiring from politics on 30 May 1973 to accept a position on the Licensing Court. At the resulting by-election held on 28 July 1973, which was watched by many observers both as an indication of Premier

Tonkin Tonkin, also spelled ''Tongkin'', ''Tonquin'' or ''Tongking'', is an exonym referring to the northern region of Vietnam. During the 17th and 18th centuries, this term referred to the domain ''Đàng Ngoài'' under Trịnh lords' control, includi ...

's two-year-old Labor government's fortunes with the electorate as well as the more practical matter of whether it would retain its one-seat majority in parliament, former television news reporter and Labor candidate Brian Burke won by just 30 votes on preferences, having trailed Liberal candidate Neil Beck on the primary vote. The seat was renamed

Balga Balga (russian: замок Бальга; german: Burg Balga; lt, Balga; pl, Balga) was a medieval castle of the Teutonic Knights in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia. The castle ruins are located on the shore of the Vistula Lagoon, north of Mamonovo ...

effective from the 1974 state election. The name Balcatta was revived for the district just one term later at the 1977 state election, after a redistribution in 1976. Burke once again won the seat, and ultimately became the Labor Party leader and State

Opposition Leader The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...

on 28 September 1981. At the 1982 redistribution, which took effect from the 1983 state election, Balcatta was significantly altered. Having previously included the suburbs of Balcatta,

, Girrawheen,

Nollamara Nollamara is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area is the City of Stirling. The name "Nollamara" is a Noongar language, Noongar word for the flowering plant ''Macropidia'', ...

and parts of Osborne Park, it moved west of

and southwards into

and Joondanna, while a new district of

was created to take in the other areas. Burke transferred into Balga, while the member for the abolished seat of

Mount Hawthorn Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, Labor's Ron Bertram, transferred into Balcatta. The district was again abolished ahead of the 1996 state election. Incumbent Labor MP

Nick Catania Nicholas Mark Catania (born 18 December 1945) is a former Australian politician. Catania served as Mayor of the City of Vincent in inner-city Perth, Western Australia, between 2001 and 2011. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative ...

unsuccessfully contested the new seat of Yokine. Balcatta returned as an electorate name at the 2005 state election. The seat was won by Labor MP

John Kobelke John Charles Kobelke (30 June 1949 – 23 June 2019) was an Australian politician. He was an ALP member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly from 1989 to 2013. Until the defeat of the Carpenter government in 2008, Kobelke was variou ...

, who was previously the member for

Members for Balcatta

Election results

References

External links

* ABC Election Profiles
2005
* WAEC District Maps
2005–20082008–
{{Electoral districts of Western Australia Balcatta