ALP 14.4%
Incumbent MP
Patrick Gorman, since 2018.
Geography
Central and northeastern Perth. The seat covers the Perth CBD, which is in the southwestern corner of the seat. Perth runs along the northern shore of the Swan river, to the east of the Perth CBD. Other suburbs include Maylands, Mount Lawley, Bayswater, Bedford, Morley and Mount Hawthorn.
Redistribution
Perth lost its western edge, including Ashfield, Bassendean and Eden Hill, to Hasluck, and gained a small part of Stirling from Cowan. These changes cut the Labor margin from 14.8% to 14.4%.
History
Perth is an original federation seat. It was dominated by conservative parties until the 1940s, and became a marginal seat until the early 1980s. It has been held by the ALP ever since 1983.
Perth was first won in 1901 by the ALP’s James Fowler. Fowler was a fierce opponent of Billy Hughes within the party, and he switched to the new Liberal Party in 1909. He joined the new Nationalist Party in 1916, but his conflict with Hughes made this difficult. He lost Nationalist endorsement before the 1922 election, and lost Perth.
Nationalist candidate Edward Mann won Perth in 1922. He was re-elected in 1925 and 1928, but in 1929 was one of a number of Nationalist MPs led by Billy Hughes to rebel against the Bruce government and lead to the government’s downfall. Mann lost Perth as an independent in 1929.
Perth was won in 1929 by Nationalist candidate Walter Nairn. Nairn became a United Australia Party member in 1931, and held the seat for the next decade. He served as Speaker from 1940 to 1943, and retired at the 1943 election.
The ALP’s Tom Burke won Perth in 1943. He held the seat for the next twelve years, until 1955, when he lost Perth to the Liberal Party’s Fred Chaney. Burke was expelled from the ALP in 1957, although he later rejoined the party. His sons Terry Burke and Brian Burke were both later elected to the Western Australian state parliament, and Brian went on to become Premier.
Chaney held Perth for the next fourteen years. He served in Robert Menzies’ ministry from 1964 to 1966, but was dropped from the frontbench when Harold Holt became Prime Minister in 1966. He lost Perth in 1969. He went on to serve as Administrator of the Northern Territory and Lord Mayor of Perth.
Perth was won in 1969 by the ALP’s Joe Berinson. He was re-elected in 1972 and 1974, and in July 1975 was appointed Minister for the Environment in the Whitlam government. He lost his seat at the 1975 election. He went on to serve in the Western Australian state parliament and as a minister in a number of state Labor governments.
The Liberal Party’s Ross McLean won Perth in 1975, and held the seat as a backbencher for the entirety of the Fraser government, losing the seat in 1983.
Perth was won in 1983 by the ALP’s Ric Charlesworth. Charlesworth had been caption of the Australian men’s field hockey team, and represented Australia at five Olympics in the 1970s and 1980s. He captained the team at two Olympics while he held the seat of Perth. Charlesworth also played Sheffield Shield cricket for Western Australia in the 1970s.
Charlesworth held Perth for ten years, retiring in 1993 at the age of 41. He was replaced by Stephen Smith, former Keating advisor and State Secretary of the ALP in WA.
Smith was promoted to the Labor frontbench after the 1996 election, and served as a shadow minister in a variety of portfolios until 2007. Smith served as Foreign Minister in the first term of the last Labor government, and as Defence Minister in the second term, before retiring at the 2013 federal election.
In 2013, Perth was won by Labor’s Alannah MacTiernan. MacTiernan had been a state MP from 1993 to 2010, and a minister in the Gallop/Carpenter state Labor government. She had resigned from state Parliament in 2010 to unsuccessfully contest the federal seat of Canning. After that loss, she had served as Mayor of Vincent from 2011 until her election to federal Parliament in 2013.
MacTiernan retired in 2016, and was succeeded by Labor’s Tim Hammond.
Hammond held the seat for less than two years before quitting in early 2018. The subsequent by-election was won by Labor’s Patrick Gorman. Gorman was re-elected in 2019 and 2022.
- Patrick Gorman (Labor)
- Sophie Greer (Greens)
- Susanna Panaia (Liberal)
Assessment
Perth is a safe Labor seat, although the margin may be inflated by Labor’s exceptional result in Western Australia in 2022.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Patrick Gorman | Labor | 40,066 | 39.2 | +5.7 | 39.1 |
| David Dwyer | Liberal | 27,294 | 26.7 | -12.2 | 27.2 |
| Caroline Perks | Greens | 22,621 | 22.2 | +3.8 | 22.0 |
| Cameron Bailey | One Nation | 2,749 | 2.7 | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| Dave Vos | Western Australia Party | 1,878 | 1.8 | -0.6 | 1.8 |
| Sonya Eberhart | United Australia | 1,605 | 1.6 | -0.2 | 1.6 |
| Sarah Szmekura-Moor | Animal Justice | 1,535 | 1.5 | +1.5 | 1.5 |
| Dean Powell | Australian Christians | 1,514 | 1.5 | +1.1 | 1.4 |
| Evan Nickols | Liberal Democrats | 1,407 | 1.4 | +1.4 | 1.4 |
| Aiden Gyuru | Federation Party | 710 | 0.7 | +0.7 | 0.7 |
| Sean Connor | Great Australian Party | 702 | 0.7 | +0.7 | 0.6 |
| Informal | 6,028 | 5.6 | +1.2 |
2022 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Patrick Gorman | Labor | 66,151 | 64.8 | +11.6 | 64.4 |
| David Dwyer | Liberal | 35,930 | 35.2 | -11.6 | 35.6 |
Polling places in Perth have been divided into three areas: east, north-west and south-west.
Labor won a majority of the two-party-preferred vote in all three areas, ranging from 59.8% in the north-west to 69.3% in the east.
The Greens came third, with a primary vote ranging from 17.9% in the north-west to 28.9% in the south-west.
| Voter group | GRN prim | ALP 2PP | Total votes | % of votes |
| East | 25.9 | 69.3 | 16,047 | 17.1 |
| South-West | 28.9 | 67.9 | 15,515 | 16.5 |
| North-West | 17.9 | 59.8 | 13,108 | 14.0 |
| Pre-poll | 19.6 | 64.0 | 28,406 | 30.3 |
| Other votes | 19.7 | 61.6 | 20,779 | 22.1 |
Election results in Perth at the 2022 federal election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party and the Greens.
Interesting to see that on these boundaries Labor would have lost here especially how the incumbent member retired in 2013.
This is the Greens most targeted seat in WA – Patrick Gorman isn’t very popular and quite bland as HOR member. Sophie Greer has a decent shot at picking this seat but if Labor falls in the post-McGowan landscape. If not 2025 than 2027/28 cycle.
CG,
Not in 2025, Perth is like Macnamara a three way contest as the margin here is definitely inflated here due to Labor’s outstanding results. I expect Liberal and Greens to increase their primary vote but the Greens to remain in third place.
Greens wouldn’t be unhappy with their returns in overlapping state seats but in all of them Labor is way, way out in front on primaries. Haven’t heard great things about Gorman as a local member but not seeing how Labor falls into 3rd. The time for Greens to win this seat will be in a low tide election for Labor where Liberals are getting north of 40% primary here, barring a scenario where Greens get Liberals preferences.
The Greens generally do better in WA federally than at a state level. While I’d expect Labor to hold Perth it wouldn’t be that shocking if the Greens won on the basis that Patrick Gorman is not a popular local MP.
I haven’t met Patrick Gorman in person, he maybe a very nice person but definitely doesn’t come across a relatable MP. He seems to be stuck in petty student politics.
Labor brand is still strong in WA and Labor should comfortably retain Perth in 2025 but I think Greens could win a couple of booths like Northbridge Tafe, Highgate PS, and likely one of the Maylands and Bayswater booths.
if the election was held today i think Greens will get over 25% of the primary vote they won’t win Perth as long as it contains Morely, Turat Hill and Dianalla.
Probably agree Patreon, the problem with the federal seat of Perth is like Fremantle – it extends beyond the ‘core’ group of suburbs favourable for the Greens. I can see the seat becoming a marginal Labor vs Greens 2CP contest, if the Greens can reach 2nd place ahead of the Liberals.
The federal seat of Perth is not really comparable to Fremantle. The City of Fremantle is clearly the most Green leaning area of WA but it doesn’t really extend beyond that LGA. Perth on the other hand will have 20%+ Greens primary in booths throughout the seat so this is the Greens prime WA target at this and future elections.