The Electoral district of West Perth was 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 ...

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 was named for its location immediately to the west of the central business district 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 is ...

. West Perth was created as one of the initial 30 single-member districts, and one of only six in the Perth-Fremantle area, and its first member, elected in

1890 Events January–March * January 1 ** The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony, in the Horn of Africa. ** In Michigan, the wooden steamer ''Mackinaw'' burns in a fire on the Black River. * January 2 ** The steamship ...

, was

Timothy Quinlan Timothy Francis Quinlan KSS (18 February 1861 – 8 July 1927) was an Irish-born Australian politician who represented the electorates of West Perth and Toodyay in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly between 1890 and 1894, and 18 ...

, a Perth city councillor and publican at the

Shamrock Hotel The Shamrock was a hotel constructed between 1946 and 1949 by wildcatter Glenn McCarthy southwest of downtown Houston, Texas next to the Texas Medical Center. It was the largest hotel built in the United States during the 1940s. The grand openin ...

. Quinlan became embroiled in a controversy regarding provision of state aid to private schools, which he and fellow Catholic MLAs Thomas Molloy and

Alfred Canning Alfred Wernam Canning (21 February 1860 – 22 May 1936) was a Western Australian government surveyor. Born at Campbellfield north of Melbourne, he started work in New South Wales as a cadet surveyor and in 1893 joined the Western Austral ...

supported. The Catholic Vicar General, Father

Anselm Bourke Mgr Anselm Bourke, born Nicholas Bourke, (Dublin, 10 September 1835 – West Perth, 2 June 1924) was a Roman Catholic priest of Irish origins. He was prominent in Catholic education for several decades, and also founded the West Perth (now Northbr ...

, established the Education Defence League with their assistance. However, the issue became a major one in the 1894 election amongst the voting public, and all three MLAs lost their seats, Quinlan losing to former

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

mayor

Barrington Wood Barrington Clarke Wood (9 May 1850 – 24 August 1903) was an Australian businessman and politician who served in both houses of the Parliament of Western Australia. A minister in the governments of Sir John Forrest and George Throssell, he was ...

.de Garis (1981), p.342-343.

George Leake George Leake (3 December 1856 – 24 June 1902) was the third Premier of Western Australia, serving from May to November 1901 and then again from December 1901 to his death. Leake was born in Perth, into a prominent local family. Studying l ...

defeated Wood in the 1901 election. Leake, a former

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 ...

, was able to form government, and became the third

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 ...

. The seat was held by several other notable members, including the first female member of any Australian Parliament,

Edith Cowan Edith Dircksey Cowan (' Brown; 2 August 18619 June 1932) was an Australian social reformer who worked for the rights and welfare of women and children. She is best known as the first Australian woman to serve as a member of parliament. Cowan h ...

, from 1921. It was later held by Thomas Davy,

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

in the second Mitchell government, who was widely considered to be leadership material until his early death in 1933 (while playing cards at the

Savoy Hotel The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London, England. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 188 ...

). Between 1938 and 1946, it was held by Robert Ross McDonald, the leader of the Nationalist Party, one of the key architects of the Western Australian division of 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 ...

, (established in 1945). The seat was generally safe for non-

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 ...

candidates and parties throughout its existence, although a redistribution following the abolition of the seat of

prior to the 1950 election, which extended the seat east to

Barrack Street Barrack Street is one of two major cross-streets in the Perth central business district, central business district of Perth, Western Australia. Together with St Georges Terrace, Wellington Street, Perth, Wellington Street and William Street, Pe ...

, enabled Labor to hold the seat for its final three terms. Its final member, Stanley Heal, successfully transferred to the recreated seat of Perth following West Perth's abolition in a redistribution in 1961 ahead of the 1962 election.

Members for West Perth

Election results

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:West Perth Former electoral districts of Western Australia