Vasse – WA 2025

LIB 4.4%

Incumbent MP
Libby Mettam, since 2014.

Geography
South-western Western Australia. Vasse covers the town of Busselton and surrounding areas. Vasse covers the entirety of the Busselton council area, and parts of the Capel council area, not including the town of Capel itself.

Redistribution
Vasse shifted north, losing the northern end of the Augusta-Margaret River council area and gaining coastal areas to the west of Capel.

History
The electorate of Vasse has existed since 1950, and has been won by the Liberal Party at every election in its history. The seat was first won in 1950 by the Liberal and Country League’s William Bovell in 1950. The LCL was the state branch of the Liberal Party, and was renamed as the ‘Liberal Party’ in 1968.

Bovell retired in 1971, and was succeeded by Barry Blaikie. Blaikie held Vasse as a Liberal MP from 1971 to 1996.

Bernie Masters won Vasse in 1996, and was re-elected in 2001. After the Liberal Party lost power in 2001, Masters joined the opposition frontbench.

In 2004, Masters was defeated for Liberal preselection by Busselton Shire President Troy Buswell. Masters resigned from the Liberal Party and served his final year as an independent. In 2005, Buswell defeated Masters, running as an independent.

Buswell was elected deputy leader of the Liberal Party in October 2005, after only eight months in Parliament.

Buswell was elected Leader of the Liberal Party in January 2008, after challenging then-leader Paul Omodei.

Buswell’s short tenure as Opposition Leader was marred by controversy, with a number of examples of embarrassing behaviour emerging. He resigned as Liberal leader in August 2008, and was replaced by former leader Colin Barnett. An early election was called by Labor Premier Alan Carpenter shortly after Barnett resumed the Liberal leadership, and in September 2008 the Liberal Party and National Party won the election.

Buswell served as Treasurer in the new government until early 2010, when he moved to the backbench due to a sex scandal involving another MP.

In December 2010, Buswell returned to the cabinet, and was reappointed Treasurer in July 2012.

He was re-elected to a third term in Vasse in March 2013. In March 2014, Buswell resigned as Treasurer after revealing that he suffers from bipolar disorder, and had suffered a breakdown. In September 2014 he resigned from Parliament.

The 2014 Vasse by-election was won by Liberal candidate Libby Mettam. Mettam was re-elected in 2017 and 2021.

Following the 2021 election, Mettam was one of just two Liberal MPs in the Legislative Assembly. She became leader of the Liberal Party in January 2023.

Candidates

Assessment
If the Liberal Party retained Vasse in 2021, they should have no trouble in 2025.

2021 result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing Redist
Libby Mettam Liberal 11,697 44.1 -2.1 44.6
Chris Hossen Labor 8,998 34.0 +13.3 34.7
Mia Krasenstein Greens 2,765 10.4 -3.4 9.5
Peter Gordon Nationals 1,135 4.3 -15.0 4.1
Cameron Van Veen Shooters, Fishers & Farmers 521 2.0 +2.0 2.0
AW Judd No Mandatory Vaccination 489 1.8 +1.8 1.8
Neridah Rich Legalise Cannabis 403 1.5 +1.5 1.5
Jackson Wreford One Nation 253 1.0 +1.0 1.0
Brad Satchell Sustainable Australia 191 0.7 +0.7 0.7
Nicolas Oancea WAxit 46 0.2 +0.2 0.2
Others 0.0
Informal 958 3.5

2021 two-party-preferred result

Candidate Party Votes % Swing Redist
Libby Mettam Liberal 14,387 54.3 -10.3 54.4
Chris Hossen Labor 12,107 45.7 +10.3 45.6

Booth breakdown

Polling places have been split into three parts. The main town of Busselton has been grouped together, with the remainder split into east and west.

The Liberal two-party-preferred vote ranged from 52.7% in Busselton to 56.7% in the west.

The Greens came third, with a primary vote ranging from 4.5% in the east to 16.4% in the west.

Voter group GRN prim % LIB 2PP % Total votes % of votes
Busselton 8.9 52.7 4,797 19.2
West 16.4 56.7 2,842 11.4
East 4.5 55.9 449 1.8
Pre-poll 8.4 54.0 12,336 49.4
Other votes 9.2 55.5 4,566 18.3

Election results in Vasse at the 2021 WA state election
Toggle between two-party-preferred votes and primary votes for Labor, the Liberal Party, the Greens and the Nationals.

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