| O'Connor Australian House of Representatives Division | |
|---|---|
 Division of O'Connor in Western Australia, as of the 2021 redistribution. | |
| Created | 1980 |
| MP | Rick Wilson |
| Party | Liberal |
| Namesake | Charles Yelverton O'Connor |
| Electors | 117,954 (2022) |
| Area | 1,126,937 km2 (435,112.8 sq mi) |
| Demographic | Rural |
The Division of O'Connor is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. It is one of Western Australia's three rural seats, and one of the largest electoral constituencies in the world.
Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned. [1]
The division was named after Charles Yelverton O'Connor, the Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia most famously known for designing the Fremantle Harbour and the Goldfields Pipeline. The division was proclaimed at the redistribution of 28 February 1980, and was first contested at the 1980 federal election. It has always been a rural seat.
For its first three decades, it took in large portions of the Mid West, Wheatbelt and Great Southern regions of Western Australia with major population centres in Geraldton and Albany. The division was significantly altered by a redistribution in 2008, taking effect at the 2010 election. The other large country seat in Western Australia, Kalgoorlie, already the largest single-member electorate in the world, needed to expand in size. However, it soon became apparent that redistributing Kalgoorlie would have made it all but impossible to reconfigure O'Connor in a way that would have had any rational basis. Ultimately, it was decided to abolish Kalgoorlie and push O'Connor well to the east to take in most of Kalgoorlie's former southern portion, including the city of Kalgoorlie itself. The northern portion of the old O'Connor was transferred to the new seat of Durack.
In August 2021, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced that O'Connor would receive the Wheatbelt Shires of Bruce Rock, Cunderdin, Kellerberrin, Koorda, Kulin, Merredin, Mount Marshall, Mukinbudin, Narembeen, Nungarin, Quairading, Tammin, Trayning, Westonia, Wyalkatchem and Yilgarn and the Mid West Shire of Wiluna from the seat of Durack, while it would also receive the Wheatbelt Shire of Beverley from the seat of Pearce and the South West Shires of Boddington and Nannup from the seats of Canning and Forrest, respectively. These boundary changes took place at the 2022 election. [2]
It now includes the Great Southern region (Albany, Broomehill-Tambellup, Cranbrook, Denmark, Gnowangerup, Jerramungup, Katanning, Kent, Kojonup, Plantagenet, and Woodanilling), the Goldfields-Esperance region (Coolgardie, Dundas, Esperance, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Laverton, Leonora, Menzies, Ngaanyatjarraku, and Ravensthorpe), the Mid West Shire of Wiluna, parts of the South-West region (Boyup Brook, Bridgetown-Greenbushes, Collie, Manjimup and Nannup), and the southern portion of the Wheatbelt (Beverley, Boddington, Brookton, Bruce Rock, Corrigin, Cuballing, Cunderdin, Dumbleyung, Kellerberrin, Kondinin, Koorda, Kulin, Lake Grace, Merredin, Mount Marshall, Mukinbudin, Narembeen, Narrogin, Nungarin, Pingelly, Quairading, Tammin, Trayning, Wagin, Wandering, West Arthur, Westonia, Wickepin, Williams, Wiluna, Wyalkatchem and Yilgarn). [3]
The seat has always been held by a conservative party. When it was created, its demographics suggested that it should have been held by the National Country Party, despite its large notional Liberal majority. However, severe conflict between rival branches of the state National Party allowed Liberal Wilson Tuckey to take the seat on Labor preferences. [4] [5] Tuckey held it without serious difficulty until his defeat at the 2010 election by Nationals WA candidate Tony Crook with a large swing. However, the Liberals regained the seat at the 2013 election.
| Image | Member | Party | Term | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Wilson Tuckey (1935–) | Liberal | 18 October 1980 – 21 August 2010 | Served as minister under Howard. Lost seat | |
 | Tony Crook (1959–) | Nationals WA | 21 August 2010 – 5 August 2013 | Retired | |
 | Rick Wilson (1966–) | Liberal | 7 September 2013 – present | Incumbent |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Liberal | Rick Wilson | 43,295 | 44.76 | +2.23 | |
| Labor | Shaneane Weldon | 25,754 | 26.63 | +6.01 | |
| Greens | Giz Watson | 10,284 | 10.63 | +2.47 | |
| One Nation | Stan Kustrin | 6,833 | 7.06 | −1.41 | |
| Christians | Justin Moseley | 2,779 | 2.87 | +0.22 | |
| Western Australia | Morris Bessant | 2,366 | 2.45 | +0.87 | |
| Great Australian | Brenden Barber | 2,337 | 2.42 | +1.50 | |
| United Australia | Tracy Tirronen | 1,722 | 1.78 | −0.10 | |
| Australian Federation | Isaac Middle | 1,348 | 1.39 | +1.39 | |
| Total formal votes | 96,718 | 94.25 | +0.43 | ||
| Informal votes | 5,906 | 5.75 | −0.43 | ||
| Turnout | 102,624 | 87.12 | −4.70 | ||
| Two-party-preferred result | |||||
| Liberal | Rick Wilson | 55,104 | 56.97 | −8.44 | |
| Labor | Shaneane Weldon | 41,614 | 43.03 | +8.44 | |
| Liberal hold | Swing | −8.44 | |||
The Wheatbelt is one of nine regions of Western Australia defined as administrative areas for the state's regional development, and a vernacular term for the area converted to agriculture during colonisation. It partially surrounds the Perth metropolitan area, extending north from Perth to the Mid West region, and east to the Goldfields–Esperance region. It is bordered to the south by the South West and Great Southern regions, and to the west by the Indian Ocean, the Perth metropolitan area, and the Peel region. Altogether, it has an area of 154,862 square kilometres (59,793 sq mi).
The Prospector is a rural passenger train service in Western Australia operated by Transwa between East Perth and Kalgoorlie. On this service, two trains depart almost at the same time in opposite directions, one travelling between East Perth and Kalgoorlie, and the other between Kalgoorlie and East Perth. The original vehicles ordered in 1968 for trains providing this service were replaced in 2004 with vehicles capable of reducing journey times to 6 hours 45 minutes.
Merredin was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1950 to 2008.
The Shire of Mukinbudin is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Merredin and about 300 kilometres (186 mi) east of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 3,437 square kilometres (1,327 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Mukinbudin.
The Shire of Nungarin is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, and with a population of 257 as at the 2016 census, is one of the nation's smallest. It is located about 40 kilometres (25 mi) north of Merredin and about 300 kilometres (186 mi) east of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 1,164 square kilometres (449 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Nungarin.
The Shire of Trayning is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northwest of Merredin and about 240 kilometres (149 mi) east of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 1,651 square kilometres (637 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Trayning.
The Shire of Kellerberrin is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, about 60 kilometres (37 mi) west of Merredin and about 200 kilometres (124 mi) east of Perth, the state capital. The Shire covers an area of 1,917 square kilometres (740 sq mi) and its seat of government is the town of Kellerberrin.
The Shire of Tammin is a local government area in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia. Its seat of government is the town of Tammin, about 80 kilometres (50 mi) west of Merredin and about 180 kilometres (112 mi) east of Perth, the state capital.
Mount Marshall was an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia from 1930 to 1989.
Central Wheatbelt is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.
The Mount Marshall state by-election, 1967 was a by-election held on 2 September 1967 for the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Mount Marshall in the northeastern agricultural part of the state.
The Division of Durack is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia.
Anthony John Crook is a retired Australian politician. He was the member of the Australian House of Representatives seat of O'Connor for the National Party of Western Australia from the 2010 federal election until August 2013. Crook served as chairman of the Western Division of the Royal Flying Doctor Service for 10 years until his retirement in 2009.
Golden Pipeline Heritage Trail was a project conducted by the National Trust of Western Australia along the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme pipeline at the time the pipeline was being celebrated for its 100 years of operation.
The Central Wheatbelt Football League is an Australian rules football competition in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.
Western Australian Government Railways railway system during its peak operational time in the 1930s to 1950s was a large system of over 6,400 kilometres (4,000 mi) of railway line.
Highways and main roads in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia form the basis of a road network, which is primarily used by the mining, agriculture, and tourism industries. Main Roads Western Australia maintains and controls these major roads, with offices based in Northam and Narrogin.
This is a list of newspapers published in, or for, the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia.