LIB 12.3%
Incumbent MP
Mike Nahan, since 2008.
Geography
Southern Perth. Riverton lies on the southern side of the Canning River, covering the suburbs of Rossmoyne, Shelley, Riverton, BUll Creek and Willetton. Riverton covers parts of Canning and Melville council areas.
Redistribution
Riverton shifted west, losing Canning Vale to Jandakot and Parkwood to Cannington, and gaining Bull Creek from Bateman. These changes increased the Liberal margin from 9.2% to 12.3%.
History
Riverton has existed since 1989.
The seat was held by Graham Kierath for the Liberal Party from 1989 until he was defeated in 2001.
Tony McRae defeated Kierath in 2001. He held the seat for the ALP for two terms.
In 2008, McRae was narrowly defeated by the Liberal Party’s Mike Nahan, losing by 64 votes. Nahan was re-elected in 2013.
Candidates
- Susan Regnard (Australian Christians)
- Marion Boswell (Labor)
- Zeeshan Pasha (Micro Business Party)
- Gavin Waugh (Julie Matheson for WA)
- Thor Kerr (Greens)
- Mike Nahan (Liberal)
- Tshung-Hui Chang (One Nation)
Assessment
Riverton has a history as a marginal seat. While the recent redistribution has solidified the Liberal margin, the seat could be under threat if there’s a large swing to Labor.
2013 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Mike Nahan | Liberal | 11,807 | 56.3 | +13.6 | 59.4 |
| Hannah Beazley | Labor | 7,388 | 35.2 | -3.2 | 32.1 |
| Marcus Atkinson | Greens | 1,291 | 6.2 | -4.6 | 6.9 |
| Joe Delle Donne | Independent | 477 | 2.3 | +2.3 | 1.7 |
| Informal | 1,237 | 5.6 |
2013 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Mike Nahan | Liberal | 12,405 | 59.2 | +7.2 | 62.3 |
| Hannah Beazley | Labor | 8,553 | 40.8 | -7.2 | 37.7 |
Booth breakdown
Booths have been divided into three parts: north, south-east and south-west.
The Liberal two-party-preferred vote ranged from 58.5% in the south-east to 68% in the south-west.
| Voter group | LIB 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| South-East | 58.5 | 7,006 | 31.5 |
| North | 62.8 | 6,821 | 30.6 |
| South-West | 68.0 | 3,838 | 17.2 |
| Other votes | 62.8 | 3,243 | 14.6 |
| Pre-poll | 62.9 | 1,360 | 6.1 |
Two-party-preferred votes in Riverton at the 2013 WA state election
It seems like Riverton has been a bit forgotten about this election. For instance, it’s not included in Antony Green’s profile of the bellwethers.
Has the redistribution pushed Riverton too far to the Liberal side? Has Nahan’s elevated profile strengthened his grip here? (Conversely, does being treasurer diminish his popularity?)
It’s unlikely Riverton will be as crucial as in 2008. But if the swing is on, it’s surely one to watch.
The redistribution isn’t quite getting the seat near western suburbs level safeness, but all the areas the seat has lost are stronger for Labor. It’s not the seat it once was – the two public high schools in the area are highly regarded and have pushed house prices up enormously. Canning Vale and Parkwood are notably not in the cachement area for those two schools, but Bull Creek is.
It would be a massive surprise if Riverton went to Labor, and if the Liberals were to lose it that would mean a statewide swing of -10%, which would give them a snowball’s chance in hell of retaining government. As noted above, the number of low-income households in Riverton is shrinking with every election. The riverside suburbs (Rossmoyne, Shelley) aren’t quite in Peppermint Grove territory, but there are plenty of McMansions and million-dollar properties. Leach Highway goes through the middle of Riverton and this should also favour the Liberals, given Roe 8’s raison d’etre is to get trucks off Leach Highway. Mike Nahan is AFAIK a popular local member and has been completely scandal-free during his time as treasurer – the contrast with Troy Buswell is night and day.
Rossmoyne SHS, famously WA’s best public school. It’s kinda like sending your kids to a private school, but cheaper (hence the extra $100,000 on your mortgage). All my maths textbooks in high school were written by one of their teachers.
Alston in the West usually portrays Nahan as Flanders off the Simpsons. Minus the very dry right wing politics, that’s him. (What Simpsons character could Buswell have been?)
Graham Kierath thought Riverton was pretty safe back in 2001. Nahan isn’t hated in the way Kierath was, so that might count for him if history tries to repeat.
Interesting answers. Thanks guys.
Sparks, 10% is exactly what Labor needs, in uniform terms, for an absolute majority. A margin of 12.3% looks high; but it’s only slightly higher than the margins in Joondalup, Southern River and Wanneroo.
Hmm, just realised I was looking at the 2013 margin (9.2 points) rather than the post-redistribution margin.
Bird of paradox, I had a look at the 2001 result you mentioned and it’s pretty interesting. In 2001, 24% of voters in Riverton voted outside of Labor and Liberal, including 5.6% for One Nation. Just goes to show that even relatively stable inner-suburban seats can spring the occasional surprise.
Shame its become a safe Lib seat – I’ve been a lib supporter all my life but i’m fed up and won’t be voting for them this time – What’s Nahan done for the general population in this electorate – diddly squat as far as I know and I don’t want Western power sold. can’t vote labour- they want to can Roe 8 – The states broke – cancelling this is going to cost the state a bucket of cash that it hasn’t got. One Nation frightens me. I support the Greens environmental policies but what else do they offer, what else do they stand for? Australian Christians – is this party or its policies any different to Christian Democrats?
@Bewildered
I suppose thats often the worst part of politics, No party of candidate will fulfil everything we want. You could look at an independent but its quite rare they will get enough support or you could look at the Micro Business Party, I assume they stand for small business. Another Party I saw was Julie Matheson for WA, which just looks like an East Coast bash fest with no policies.
@Bewildered
Greens have a full policy platform and their big focus seems to be on government transparency and drug law reform this election. They also want to can roe 8 though, far more than Labor does.
@Bewildered.
I live in Bibra Lake less than 500m from where Roe 8 is passing through. I understand how you could be fed up however what is required in the current economic environment is stability. That means a government that can operate effectively. Back the current government. They have a more considered plan for WA than the other parties.