LIB 7.0%
Incumbent MP
Chris Hatton, since 2013.
Geography
Northern Perth. Balcatta covers central parts of the City of Stirling, including the suburbs of Balcatta, Joondanna, Osborne Park, Stirling, Tuart Hill and Hamersley.
Redistribution
Balcatta expanded slightly, gaining the remainder of Hamersley from Girrawheen. This change cut the Liberal margin from 7.3% to 7%.
History
The current seat of Balcatta was created in 2005, but previously existed for three periods between 1904 and 1996. Its most famous member was Brian Burke.
When Balcatta was created in 2005, it partly replaced the abolished seat of Nollamara. Nollamara had been held by the ALP’s John Kobelke since 1989.
Kobelke served as a parliamentary secretary in the Lawrence government and served on the frontbench when the ALP was in opposition in the 1990s. He served as a minister from 2001 to 2005.
Kobelke’s 9.2% margin was slashed to 2.3% in 2008, with the ALP suffering a swing of almost 10% on primary votes.
John Kobelke retired in 2013, and the Liberal Party’s Chris Hatton won the seat thanks to a swing of almost 10%.
Candidates
- Keith Mcencroe (Australian Christians)
- Chris Hatton (Liberal)
- Richard Tait (Liberal Democrats)
- David Michael (Labor)
- Mile Nasteski (Micro Business Party)
- Nicole Harvey (Greens)
Assessment
Balcatta is a marginal seat, and will be a key battleground if Labor is on track to possibly form government.
2013 result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Chris Hatton | Liberal | 10,756 | 51.9 | +10.7 | 51.6 |
| Janet Pettigrew | Labor | 7,341 | 35.4 | -6.5 | 35.7 |
| Sheridan Young | Greens | 1,705 | 8.2 | -3.3 | 8.2 |
| Peter Dodd | Australian Christians | 322 | 1.6 | -2.0 | 1.6 |
| Lesley Croll | Family First | 264 | 1.3 | -0.6 | 1.3 |
| Joe Ruzzi | Independent | 234 | 1.1 | +1.1 | 1.1 |
| Mubarak Kim Kidima | Independent | 122 | 0.6 | +0.6 | 0.6 |
| Informal | 1,727 | 7.7 |
2013 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Chris Hatton | Liberal | 11,886 | 57.3 | +9.5 | 57.0 |
| Janet Pettigrew | Labor | 8,841 | 42.7 | -9.5 | 43.0 |
Booth breakdown
Booths have been divided into three parts: central, north and south.
The Liberal Party won slim majorities of the vote in the north (50.7%) and the centre (51.1%), while Labor won 50.5% of the two-party-preferred vote in the south.
| Voter group | GRN % | LIB 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| Central | 5.7 | 57.9 | 8,234 | 37.7 |
| South | 9.7 | 55.2 | 6,381 | 29.2 |
| North | 9.2 | 54.8 | 2,454 | 11.2 |
| Pre-poll | 9.2 | 62.1 | 1,149 | 5.3 |
| Other votes | 10.3 | 58.3 | 3,626 | 16.6 |
Two-party-preferred votes in Balcatta at the 2013 WA state election
The margin here is rather surprising for a seat that had always been Labor held.