Forrest – Election 2010

LIB 5.5%

Incumbent MP
Nola Marino, since 2007.

Geography
South-western corner of Western Australia. Forrest covers the towns of Bunbury, Busselton, Margaret River and Collie. Forrest is made up of Augusta-Margaret River, Bunbury, Busselton, Capel, Collie, Dardanup, Donnybrook-Balingup, Harvey and Nanrup council areas.

Redistribution
Forrest previously included Bridgetown-Greenbushes and Manjimup council areas. Forrest gained no extra territories in the recent redistribution.

History
Forrest was created for the 1922 election. It has been held predominantly by conservative parties, first by the Country Party before the Second World War and then the Liberal Party. It has only been won by the ALP at three elections.

John Prowse won Forrest in 1922 for the Country Party. Prowse had won the seat of Swan in 1919, before moving to the new seat in 1922. Prowse held the seat for two decades, until his defeat in 1943.

The ALP’s Nelson Lemmon won Forrest in 1943. He was re-elected in 1946, and was then appointed Minister for Works and Housing in the Chifley government, and he was responsible for the commencement of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. He lost Forrest in 1949.

The Liberal Party’s Gordon Freeth won Forrest in 1949. He was appointed to the Menzies government’s ministry in 1958, and served as a minister continuously until his defeat in 1969, when Forrest was won by the ALP’s Frank Kirwan.

Kirwan lost in 1972, going against the trend which saw the Whitlam government end 23 years of Liberal rule. He was defeated by Liberal candidate Peter Drummond. Drummond held the seat until his retirement in 1987.

Geoff Prosser won Forrest in 1987. He joined the Liberal frontbench in 1990, and was appointed as a minister in the Howard government after the 1996 election. He only lasted until 1997, when he was forced to resign due to breaches of the code of conduct. He served as a backbencher until his retirement in 2007.

In 2007, Liberal candidate Nola Marino won the seat of Forrest.

Candidates

• Luke Petersen (Greens)
• Jackie Jarvis (Labor)
• Nola Marino (Liberal)
• Lee Herridge (Christian Democratic Party)
• Bev Custers (Family First)
• Cale Hill (Nationals)

Political situation
Despite the margin, Forrest is very unlikely to be lost by the Liberal Party in 2010.

2007 result

2007 two-candidate-preferred result

These results do not take into consideration the effects of the redistribution.

Booth breakdown
Forrest covers nine local government areas. Donnybrook-Balingup and Nannup local government areas, with the smallest populations, have been grouped as ‘South East’, with the remainder of council areas treated separately.

The Liberal Party won a majority in most parts of the seat, except in Collie, where the ALP won almost 70% of the two-party preferred vote. The Greens polled over 18% in the Augusta-Margaret River area, much higher than in any other part of the seat. An independent, Noel Brunning, also polled highly, with his highest vote being 14% in the Bunbury area.