Incumbent MLC
Ruth Forrest (Independent), since 2005.
Geography
West coast of Tasmania. Murchison covers the Circular Head, Waratah/Wynyard, West Coast and King Island council areas, along with a small part of the Burnie council area. The seat covers the towns of Queenstown, Zeehan, Rosebery, Wynyard, Smithton, Stanley, Somerset, Strahan and Waratah.
Redistribution
Murchison expanded slightly in the Burnie area, taking in South Burnie and Montello from Montgomery.
History
The seat of Murchison was created in the redistribution of 1999, and largely replaced the west coast seat of Russell, which had existed since 1885. The seat of Russell/Murchison has been held by seven members from 1885 to 2017, all of whom sat as independents.
The seat was held by Arthur Fenton from 1933 until 1957, when he was succeeded by his nephew Charles Fenton. Fenton held the seat until his retirement in 1981.
Fenton was replaced in 1981 by Tony Fletcher. Fletcher sat as a conservative independent, although he served as leader of the government in the upper house in Liberal governments in the 1980s and 1990s. Fletcher took over the new seat of Murchison in 1999, and held the seat until his retirement in 2005.
Murchison was narrowly won by progressive independent Ruth Forrest in 200. Forrest was elected with 29% of the primary vote and managed 51.3% of the vote after preferences.
Forrest was unopposed for re-election in 2011, and won a third term in 2017.
- Gatty Burnett (Independent)
- Ruth Forrest (Independent)
- Codie Hutchison (Independent)
- Brenton Jones (Shooters, Fishers and Farmers)
Assessment
Forrest is the strong favourite to win a fourth term.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % |
| Ruth Forrest | Independent | 11,177 | 56.7 |
| Daryl Quilliam | Independent | 8,539 | 43.3 |
| Informal | 676 | 3.3 |
Polling places in Murchison have been divided between the five local government areas in the electorate. Almost half of the population is in the Waratah/Wynyard council area.
Forrest won a majority of the vote in four out of five areas, ranging from 59.1% in Waratah/Wynyard to 75% on King Island.
Quilliam polled 57.6% in Circular Head.
| Voter group | Forrest % | Quilliam % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Waratah/Wynyard | 59.1 | 40.9 | 6,643 | 33.7 |
| Circular Head | 42.4 | 57.6 | 3,117 | 15.8 |
| Burnie | 59.7 | 40.3 | 2,471 | 12.5 |
| West Coast | 61.2 | 38.8 | 1,705 | 8.6 |
| King Island | 75.0 | 25.0 | 792 | 4.0 |
| Pre-poll | 55.9 | 44.1 | 2,592 | 13.1 |
| Postal | 59.2 | 40.8 | 1,379 | 7.0 |
| Other votes | 53.9 | 46.1 | 1,017 | 5.2 |
Election results in Murchison at the 2017 Legislative Council election
Toggle between primary votes for independent candidate Ruth Forrest and independent candidate Daryl Quilliam.