LIB 6.7%
Incumbent MP
Rick Wilson, since 2013.
Geography
Regional Western Australia. O’Connor is a massive electorate, covering the southern half of Western Australia away from the heavily-populated south-western corner of the state. O’Connor covers the major centres of Kalgoorlie, Albany and Esperance, as well as southern parts of the wheatbelt. The seat stretches as far west as Collie, Donnybrook, Nannup and Manjimup.
Redistribution
O’Connor lost Cunderdin, Kellerberrin, Koorda, Merredin, Mount Marshall, Mukinbudin, Nungarin, Tammin, Trayning, Westonia and Wyalkatchem council areas to Durack and also lost the Beverley council area to the new seat of Bullwinkel. O’Connor gained the Donnybrook-Balingup council area from Forrest.
History
A seat has existed with the name of O’Connor since 1980, but the boundaries were redrawn radically before the 2010 election. The neighbouring seat of Kalgoorlie was abolished, with northern parts of Kalgoorlie and O’Connor going into a new seat of Durack, with O’Connor taking in southern parts of Kalgoorlie.
O’Connor was won in 1980 by the Liberal Party’s Wilson Tuckey.
Tuckey served on the Liberal frontbench from 1984 to 1989 and again from 1993 to 1996. He served as a minister in the Howard government from 1998 to 2003.
Tuckey developed a reputation as a maverick and a member of the Liberal Party’s far right. The ALP never threatened Tuckey’s hold on the seat, but in 2007 he was considered at risk of losing. The Nationals gained a large swing and came within 3% of overtaking the ALP, while Tuckey’s primary vote fell below 50%.
Kalgoorlie had traditionally been dominated by the ALP, but was won by the Liberal Party’s Barry Haase in 1998.
Haase ran for Durack in 2010, while Tuckey again ran for O’Connor.
Tuckey was defeated in a close race by the Nationals candidate, Tony Crook. Crook benefited from Labor and Greens preferences.
After one term, Crook retired in 2013, and Liberal candidate Rick Wilson was elected by a narrow margin over the Nationals candidate. Wilson has been re-elected three times.
- Giz Watson (Greens)
- Rick Wilson (Liberal)
Assessment
O’Connor is a reasonably safe Liberal seat, and should become much safer if there is a swing back to normal trends in Western Australia.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Rick Wilson | Liberal | 43,295 | 44.8 | +2.2 | 44.5 |
| Shaneane Weldon | Labor | 25,754 | 26.6 | +6.0 | 26.7 |
| Giz Watson | Greens | 10,284 | 10.6 | +2.5 | 10.9 |
| Stan Kustrin | One Nation | 6,833 | 7.1 | -1.4 | 6.9 |
| Justin Moseley | Australian Christians | 2,779 | 2.9 | +0.2 | 2.8 |
| Brenden Barber | Great Australian Party | 2,337 | 2.4 | +1.5 | 2.5 |
| Morris Bessant | Western Australia Party | 2,366 | 2.4 | +0.9 | 2.4 |
| Tracy Tirronen | United Australia | 1,722 | 1.8 | -0.1 | 1.8 |
| Isaac Middle | Federation Party | 1,348 | 1.4 | +1.4 | 1.4 |
| Others | 0.1 | ||||
| Informal | 5,906 | 5.8 | -0.4 |
2022 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Rick Wilson | Liberal | 55,104 | 57.0 | -8.4 | 56.7 |
| Shaneane Weldon | Labor | 41,614 | 43.0 | +8.4 | 43.3 |
Booths have been divided into five areas, along local government areas. There are a large number of council areas in O’Connor. Booths in the north-east, including Kalgoorlie, have been grouped as Goldfields. Booths in the south-east include Esperance. The ‘Great Southern’ area includes Albany, and makes up over 40% of the election-day ordinary votes. The remainder has been split into Wheatbelt and South West.
The Liberal Party won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in four out of five areas, ranging from 51.1% in the south west to 74.4% in the wheatbelt. Labor won 51.5% in the goldfields.
| Voter group | GRN prim | LIB 2PP | Total votes | % of votes |
| Great Southern | 14.8 | 56.3 | 19,102 | 20.2 |
| South West | 13.6 | 51.1 | 8,059 | 8.5 |
| Wheatbelt | 5.4 | 74.4 | 7,760 | 8.2 |
| Goldfields | 7.5 | 48.5 | 6,880 | 7.3 |
| South East | 10.0 | 61.6 | 3,297 | 3.5 |
| Pre-poll | 10.0 | 53.0 | 32,313 | 34.2 |
| Other votes | 10.9 | 61.0 | 17,200 | 18.2 |
Election results in O’Connor at the 2022 federal election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for the Liberal Party, Labor and the Greens.
The WA nationals will be running candidates in O’Connor, Durack and Forrest. Liberals could be in for an unexpected fight here given how poor their branding is in WA. All overlapping state seats are National held.
https://www.nationalswa.com/the-nationals-wa-unveil-federal-candidates-ready-to-be-a-strong-voice-for-wa/
Don’t think the WA nats will ever get a good shot at Durack or O’Connor until the incumbents retire
The WA Nats left their run too late. A WA Nat held this seat from 2010 to 2013 so it could happen again but at a future election, after 2025.
The expansion of O’Connor to take in Collie and much of the South West increases the level of ALP support making it unlikely they will finish 3rd and direct preferences against the Liberal Party.