Bateman – WA 2017

LIB 22.6%

Incumbent MP

• Dean Nalder, member for Alfred Cove since 2013.
• Matt Taylor, member for Bateman since 2013.

Geography
Inner-southern Perth. Bateman covers the suburbs of Bateman, Booragoon, Mount Pleasant, Myaree, Winthrop. Bateman entirely lies inside the City of Melville.

Redistribution
The seat of Bateman underwent significant changes, losing its southern and eastern sides to neighbouring seats and shifting north to take in riverside suburbs from the seat of Alfred Cove, which shifted west and was renamed Bicton. Bateman lost Kardinya and Murdoch to Willagee and Bull Creek to Riverton. Bateman then gained Ardross, Applecross and the remainder of Mount Pleasant and Booragoon from Alfred Cove. These changes increased the Liberal margin from 17.8% to 22.6%.

History
Bateman is a new district created in 2008, largely replacing the former district of Murdoch. Murdoch had existed from 1977 to 1989 and from 1996 to 2008, and was always won by the Liberal Party.

Murdoch was won in 2005 by Trevor Sprigg. He died in January 2008, triggering a by-election.

The 2008 by-election was easily won by Liberal candidate Christian Porter.

Porter was immediately appointed as Shadow Attorney-General. Murdoch was largely replaced by Bateman in 2008, and Porter was appointed Attorney-General in the newly elected Liberal government.

Porter became Treasurer in late 2010. In late 2012 he stepped down from the front bench to run for the federal seat of Pearce at the 2013 federal election, and stepped down from the state parliament at the 2013 election in anticipation of his federal run. He was elected to represent Pearce in 2013 and was re-elected in 2016.

The Liberal Party’s Matt Taylor won Bateman in 2013.

Candidates
Sitting member for Bateman Matt Taylor is moving to the seat of Bicton after losing the preselection for Bateman to Alfred Cove MP Dean Nalder.

• Dean Nalder (Liberal)
• Don Huggins (Australian Christians)
• Jonathan Masih (Micro Business Party)
• Michelle Meyers (One Nation)
• Tomas Fitzgerald (Labor)
• Adrian Arnold (Julie Matheson for WA)
• Adie Wilmot (Greens)

Assessment
Bateman is the safest Liberal seat in Western Australia.

2013 result

2013 two-party-preferred result

Booth breakdown

Booths have been divided into three parts: north, south-east and south-west.

The Liberal Party’s two-party-preferred vote ranged from 71% in the south-east to 79% in the north.

The Greens came third, with a vote ranging from 6.7% in the north to 10% in the south-east.

Two-party-preferred votes in Bateman at the 2013 WA state election