Over the next few weeks we are going to profile each of the electorates that will feature in the Super Saturday by-elections on 28 July. This week, we are focusing on the two federal seats in Western Australia.
PERTH
Named after the city of Perth, this electorate covers 80 square kilometres of inner metropolitan Perth, comprised of well-established and built up suburbs and the central business district. Industries in the area include education, retail, medical, commercial, tourism, transport, professional services, public services and hospitality.
The previous Member for Perth, Mr Tim Hammond resigned in May to spend more time with his family.
The two candidates for the electorate are Mr Patrick Gorman for Labor and Ms Caroline Perks for the Greens. This is one of two seats that the Liberal Party has decided not to contest.
Mr Gorman has had extensive experience with the Labor party, serving in senior role with the former prime minister and foreign minister, Hon Kevin Rudd, and having previously been the WA State Secretary of the Labor Party. As state secretary, he saw the successful election of the McGowan State Government in March 2017.
After completing a Graduate Program with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Ms Perks became dedicated to optimising climate change policy, giving presentations on climate change at local and national conferences, as well as international discussions such as the London Symposium on Climate Change. Ms Perks is an advocate of radical climate change policy reform, of gender equality and of animal rights.
Previous Election Results
In the 2016 election, the Labor candidate?—?Mr Hammond?—?received 53.33% of the vote, whilst Mr Jeremy Quinn of the Liberal Party received 46.67%.
Due to the Liberal Party not running a candidate it is difficult to predict exactly how the electorate will vote, however it is expected that Labor is likely to retain the seat.
FREMANTLE
The electorate of Fremantle is situated South-West of Perth, covering industries such as retail, commercial, manufacturing, education, hospitality, tourism and fishing. Although largely inner-metropolitan, it also includes Rottnest Island.
Mr Josh Wilson was the incumbent Labor MP until May of 2018, when he resigned due to the fact he failed to renounce his British citizenship in time for the 2016 campaign.
Mr Wilson will recontest the seat for Labor along with Ms Dorinda Cox of the Australian Greens.
Prior to federal politics, Mr Wilson was a Councillor of the City of Fremantle and Deputy Mayor from 2009 to 2016. He was elected to the House of Representatives for Fremantle in 2016 and served on the Joint Standing Committee of Treaties and Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee of the National Broadband Network (NBN). Preceding the by-election, Mr Wilson has campaigned on issues such as live exports, the NBN and the government’s tax cuts for big business.
Ms Cox is a former police officer and anti-domestic violence campaigner and has lived in Fremantle for most of her life. Having also run a business, Ms Cox has emphasised the importance of community development, social enterprises and small businesses to the growth of her electorate. Ms Cox has also campaigned on issues such as asylum seeker policy reform, calling on her opponent to, if elected, ‘commit to voting to urgently abolish offshore detention and temporary protection visas, and provide permanent protection to refugees asking for our help’.
The 2016 election saw late-entrant Mr Wilson receive 57.52% of the vote, with Liberal Party challenger Ms Kelly Pierette receiving 42.48%.
Similar to the seat of Perth, due to the Liberal Party not running a candidate it is difficult to predict exactly how the electorate will vote, however it is expected that Labor is likely to retain the seat.
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