NAT 9.2%
Incumbent MP
Mia Davies, since 2013. Previously member of the Legislative Council for the Agricultural region 2009-2013.
- Geography
- Redistribution
- History
- Candidate summary
- Assessment
- 2021 results
- Booth breakdown
- Results maps
Geography
Central Wheatbelt covers a large area to the east of Perth, covering Ballidu, Beacon, Beverley, Dowerin, Goomalling, Meckering, Merredin, Narembeen, Northam, Toodyay, Victoria Plains, Westonia, Wongan Hills, Wundowie, Wyalkatchem and York.
Redistribution
Central Wheatbelt shifted north, losing Cuballing, Kondinin, Kulin and Wickepin local government areas to Roe, and gaining Dowerin, Goomalling, Toodyay, Victoria Plains and Wongan-Ballidu council area from Moore. These changes reduced the Nationals margin from 10.7% to 9.2%.
History
Central Wheatbelt was created for the 2008 election, after one-vote-one-value laws reduced the number of regional electorates. The seat was a merger of the previous seats of Avon and Merredin.
Merredin had been held by the Nationals since 1974, and Avon since 1986.
Max Trenorden had won the seat of Avon for the Nationals in 1986, succeeding Labor’s Ken McIvor. He held the seat until 2008, when he moved to the Legislative Council, representing the Agricultural region for one term until 2013.
The Nationals’ Hendy Cowan had represented Merredin since 1974 (the seat having a slightly different name in his first term), and retired in 2001. Cowan had served as leader of the Nationals from 1979 until 2001. He was succeeded at a by-election in 2001 by Brendon Grylls, who held the seat until its abolition in 2008. Grylls was elected leader of the Nationals in 2005.
Grylls won the new seat of Central Wheatbelt in 2008, and held it until 2013. He moved to the seat of Pilbara at the 2013 election. He stepped down as Nationals leader in late 2013 but returned to the job in 2016.
The Nationals’ Mia Davies won Central Wheatbelt in 2013. Davies had served one term representing the Agricultural region in the Legislative Council from 2009 until 2013. Davies became deputy leader of the Nationals in late 2013, and became the party’s leader after the 2017 election. Davies was re-elected in Central Wheatbelt in 2017 and 2021. Davies became leader of the opposition after the massive Labor landslide of 2021, and held that role until she stepped down from the leadership in early 2023.
Candidates
Sitting Nationals MP Mia Davies is not running for re-election.
- Lance French (Liberal)
- Les Holten (Australian Christians)
- Lachlan Hunter (Nationals)
- Peter Lines (One Nation)
Assessment
The Nationals will retain this very safe seat.
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Mia Davies | Nationals | 10,101 | 47.5 | +1.4 | 45.2 |
| Michelle Nelson | Labor | 7,191 | 33.8 | +14.3 | 34.8 |
| Rob Forster | Liberal | 1,762 | 8.3 | -3.3 | 9.1 |
| Stuart Singleton | Shooters, Fishers & Farmers | 739 | 3.5 | -1.8 | 3.7 |
| Annabelle Newbury | Greens | 388 | 1.8 | -1.3 | 2.2 |
| Shaun Reid | One Nation | 405 | 1.9 | -9.6 | 2.0 |
| Dennis Pease | Australian Christians | 427 | 2.0 | -0.1 | 1.7 |
| Brendon Cahill | No Mandatory Vaccination | 179 | 0.8 | +0.8 | 0.9 |
| Estelle Gom | WAxit | 70 | 0.3 | +0.3 | 0.3 |
| Informal | 938 | 4.2 |
2021 two-party-preferred result
| Candidate | Party | Votes | % | Swing | Redist |
| Mia Davies | Nationals | 12,901 | 60.7 | -11.5 | 59.2 |
| Michelle Nelson | Labor | 8,357 | 39.3 | +11.5 | 40.8 |
Polling places have been split into four parts: north-east, north-west, south-east and south-west.
The Nationals two-party-preferred vote ranged from 55.5% in the north-west to 76.5% in the south-east.
The Liberal Party came third, with a primary vote ranging from 5% in the north-east to 10.3% in the north-west and south-west.
| Voter group | LIB 2PP % | NAT 2PP % | Total votes | % of votes |
| North-West | 10.3 | 55.5 | 4,375 | 17.9 |
| South-West | 10.3 | 60.6 | 3,164 | 12.9 |
| North-East | 5.0 | 70.1 | 2,141 | 8.7 |
| South-East | 8.6 | 76.5 | 1,448 | 5.9 |
| Pre-poll | 8.7 | 52.5 | 7,711 | 31.5 |
| Other votes | 9.6 | 61.9 | 5,637 | 23.0 |
Election results in Central Wheatbelt at the 2021 WA state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for the Nationals, Labor, the Liberal Party and the Greens.