The Electoral district of Pilbara is a
Legislative Assembly electorate
Electorate may refer to:
* The people who are eligible to vote in an election, especially their number e.g. the term ''size of (the) electorate''
* The dominion of a Prince-elector
The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, ...
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 ...
. Pilbara is named for the
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
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 ...
in which it is located. It is one of the oldest electorates in Western Australia, with its first member having been elected to the Second Parliament of the Legislative Assembly at the
1894 elections.
History
![Western_Australian_Electoral_Districts_1898_-_East_Pilbara](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Western_Australian_Electoral_Districts_1898_-_East_Pilbara.png)
Pilbara (historically spelled Pilbarra) was created at the 1893 redistribution in the ''Constitution Act Amendment Act 1893'', through which three new electorates were created in mining and pastoral areas. Its first member was elected at the
1894 election, and while normally a
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 ...
-held seat, it has been held by the
Liberals and their predecessors for significant terms. In 1898, its major settlements were
Marble Bar
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...
,
Nullagine, and
Bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
, and it included the southern Pilbarra goldfield.
Pilbara's second member,
Walter Kingsmill
Sir Walter Kingsmill (10 April 1864 – 15 January 1935) was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1923 to 1935. He was President of the Senate from 1929 to 1932.
Early life
Kingsmill was born on 10 Ap ...
, was a prominent member of
Leake's opposition, serving as a Minister in the Leake, James and Rason governments between 1901 and 1906. The seat was first won for Labor at a 1906 by-election, which was won by
Henry Underwood against Ministerial opponent
John Marquis Hopkins
John Marquis Hopkins (1870 – 3 July 1912) was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, representing Boulder from 1901 to 1905 and Beverley from 1908 to 1910. He had been mayor of Boulder from 1 ...
. He became part of the
National Labor movement led by
John Scaddan
John Scaddan, CMG (4 August 1876 – 21 November 1934), popularly known as "Happy Jack", was Premier of Western Australia from 7 October 1911 until 27 July 1916.
Early life
John Scaddan was born in Moonta, South Australia, into a Cornish A ...
in early 1917, and later served in a
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
ministry under
Henry Lefroy
Sir Henry Bruce Lefroy (24 March 1854 – 19 March 1930) was the eleventh Premier of Western Australia.
Biography
Lefroy was born in Perth, Western Australia on 24 March 1854. His father was Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, Colonial Treasurer of Wes ...
as a minister without portfolio. He was defeated by a Labor rival,
Alfred Lamond in the
1924 election, but on Lamond's retirement at the
1933 election, the seat became the only seat to switch from Labor to Nationalist in the State in what proved to be a disastrous election for the Nationalists which relegated them to third place behind the
Country Party. Labor recovered the seat in 1939, who held it continuously until the
1974 election, when
Charles Court
Sir Charles Walter Michael Court, (29 September 1911 – 22 December 2007) was a Western Australian politician, and the 21st Premier of Western Australia from 1974 to 1982. He was a member of the Liberal Party.
Early life
Court's family e ...
's
Liberals defeated Labor premier
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 ...
's one-seat majority. Labor recovered the seat when they won government again in 1983, with the seat's first female member
Pam Buchanan
Pamela Ann Buchanan (née Slocombe; 6 February 1937 – 31 March 1992) was an Australian politician who was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia between 1983 and 1992. She represented the Labor Party for the majority of h ...
, who later became a minister in the
Lawrence
Lawrence may refer to:
Education Colleges and universities
* Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States
* Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Preparator ...
government. In 1989, she shifted to the new seat of
Ashburton, and
Larry Graham won Pilbara for the Labor party. He resigned from the Labor party in 2000, and served as an Independent until his retirement at the
2005 election, and Labor's
Tom Stephens
Thomas Gregory Stephens (born 15 November 1951 in Sydney, New South Wales Australia) is a former Australian parliamentarian.
Early life and career
Youngest son to John Joseph and Ellen Genevieve Stephens six children; five sons and one dau ...
, who had resigned his
Legislative Council seat and unsuccessfully contested
Kalgoorlie at the
2004 election, won the seat, which for one term was known as Central Kimberley-Pilbara due to a redistribution. The name reverted to Pilbara at the 2008 redistribution. At the
2013 election the seat was contested by
National Party leader
Brendon Grylls
Brendon John Grylls (born 5 June 1973) is an Australian politician who was a National Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2001 to 2017. Grylls became leader of the National Party in Western Australia from 2005 to ...
who gained the seat with 61.5% of the two party preferred vote. After just one term as the member for Pilbara, Grylls was defeated at the state election in
2017 by Labor's
Kevin Michel
Kevin Joseph Jude Michel (born 26 March 1961) is an Australian politician. He has been a Australian Labor Party (Western Australian Branch), Labor member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly since the 2017 Western Australian state elec ...
.
Geography
As of 2014, the electorate consists of the
Shire of East Pilbara
The Shire of East Pilbara is one of the four local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. With an area of , larger than the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania combined, it is the largest local government region in ...
, the
City of Karratha
The City of Karratha is one of the four local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. It covers an area of and had a population of about 21,500 as at the 2016 Census, most of which is located in its seat of government, the ...
, as well as the
Town of Port Hedland
The Town of Port Hedland is a local government area in the Pilbara region of Western Australia containing the twin settlements of Port Hedland and South Hedland and the industrial precinct of Wedgefield. It had a population of approximately ...
Before 2007, The Pilbara electorate contained the eastern parts of the
Shire of Ashburton
The Shire of Ashburton is one of the four local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, covering an area of . It is named after the Ashburton River.
The shire's administration centre is in the town of Tom Price. It had a ...
, including the mining towns of
Tom Price,
Paraburdoo and
Pannawonica; the
Town of Port Hedland
The Town of Port Hedland is a local government area in the Pilbara region of Western Australia containing the twin settlements of Port Hedland and South Hedland and the industrial precinct of Wedgefield. It had a population of approximately ...
including
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 ...
; the
Shire of East Pilbara
The Shire of East Pilbara is one of the four local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. With an area of , larger than the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania combined, it is the largest local government region in ...
including
Newman and
Marble Bar
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphosed ...
and extending to the eastern boundary of the State; and the western and northern sections of the
Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku
The Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku is a remote local government area in Western Australia near the Northern Territory/South Australian border. It is from Perth.
It was formed on 1 July 1993 following a report of the Local Government Boundaries Commi ...
, which is relatively unpopulated (especially as it excludes the town of
Warburton) was added in order to balance the land areas of Pilbara and
Kalgoorlie. The area's economy is centred on mining, particularly
iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the fo ...
, and a significant proportion of the voting population are
Aboriginal.
The 2007 redistribution, which took effect at the
2008 election, resulted in the seat losing areas it had gained in the previous distribution, including
Fitzroy Crossing Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to:
People As a given name
*Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name:
** FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855)
** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Bea ...
and
Halls Creek
Halls is a plural of the word hall.
Halls may also refer to:
People
* Walter Halls (1871–1953), British trade unionist and politician
* Ethel May Halls (1882–1967), American actress
* Julian Halls (born 1967), British field hockey player
* ...
in the
Kimberley region, but it gained the large town of
Newman from the abolished
Murchison-Eyre.
The 2011 redistribution, which took effect at the
2013 election, saw Pilbara gain the
Shire of Roebourne from the renamed
North West Central electorate, in exchange for the remnants of the
Shire of Ashburton
The Shire of Ashburton is one of the four local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, covering an area of . It is named after the Ashburton River.
The shire's administration centre is in the town of Tom Price. It had a ...
, and the
Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku
The Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku is a remote local government area in Western Australia near the Northern Territory/South Australian border. It is from Perth.
It was formed on 1 July 1993 following a report of the Local Government Boundaries Commi ...
was ceded to the
Kalgoorlie electorate. That theoretically increased Labor's hold on the seat, but the popularity of the
WA Nationals
The National Party of Australia (WA) Inc, branded The Nationals WA, is a political party in Western Australia. It is affiliated with the National Party of Australia but maintains a separate structure and identity. Since the 2021 state election ...
'
Royalties for Regions policy
Royalties for Regions is a political policy formulated by the National Party in 2008 which involves the redirection of Western Australian state government spending from the major population centres, particularly Perth, into the rural areas of th ...
made it marginal, so much so that, at the election, it was comfortably won by the then Nationals' leader,
Brendon Grylls
Brendon John Grylls (born 5 June 1973) is an Australian politician who was a National Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia from 2001 to 2017. Grylls became leader of the National Party in Western Australia from 2005 to ...
.
Members for Pilbara
Results
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pilbara
Electoral districts of Western Australia
1894 establishments in Australia
Constituencies established in 1894