Melville was an electoral district 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 ...

from 1950 to 1996. The district was based in the southern suburbs of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

History

First contested at the 1950 state election, the seat's inaugural member was

John Tonkin John Trezise Tonkin AC (2 February 1902 – 20 October 1995), popularly known as "Honest John", was an Australian politician. A member of the Labor Party, he served as a Member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly for a record 44 ...

of the Labor Party, hitherto the member for North-East Fremantle since 1933. Tonkin served a long career in parliament, going to become

Premier of Western Australia The premier of Western Australia is the head of government of the state of Western Australia. The role of premier at a state level is similar to the role of the prime minister of Australia at a federal level. The premier leads the executive bra ...

from 1971 to 1974. When Tonkin finally retired at the 1977 state election, he was succeeded by fellow Labor candidate

Barry Hodge Barry James Hodge (born 16 February 1944) is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 1977 to 1989, representing the seat of Melville. Hodge was born in Melbourne, but ...

. Hodge served four terms before his defeat at the hands of

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 ...

candidate Doug Shave. Melville was abolished ahead of the 1996 state election. Shave went on to become the member for the new seat of Alfred Cove.

Members for Melville

Election results

Melville 1950 establishments in Australia Constituencies established in 1950 1996 disestablishments in Australia Constituencies disestablished in 1996 {{WesternAustralia-gov-stub