For the first half-century after Federation, Perth and Fremantle were the only seats based on the capital.
Between the 1940s and 1980s, it was a marginal seat that frequently changed hands between the Liberals (and their predecessors) and Labor. During this time, it was normally held by the party of government, electing only two opposition MPs. Since the 1980s, demographic changes have made it a fairly safe Labor seat.
As of the last federal election, Perth has held the strongest Greens vote of all seats in Western Australia, at 18.87%. The growing Greens vote in the seat has come largely at the expense of the Labor Party, whose primary vote has dropped by 11.93% since 1993, when the Greens first contested the division of Perth. The Greens won their first ever booth in the seat in 2019 when the party came first on primary vote in Northbridge. Additionally, the party came a close second in the Highgate booth based on primary vote and also achieved over 20% in 20 of the booths for the first time. In 2022, the Greens polled 22.1% and came a clear second in 18 booths and topped the primary vote in Northbridge, Highgate North and Mount Lawley East.
Geography
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.[2]
In August 2021, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced that Perth's northern boundary would be altered to run almost entirely along Morley Drive. As a result, Perth's portion of the suburb of Noranda would be transferred to the seat of Cowan, while Perth would gain the suburbs of Joondanna, Tuart Hill, Yokine, the south-east of Osborne Park and the remainder of Coolbinia and Inglewood from the abolished seat of Stirling. In addition, minor changes would occur to Perth's portions of Dianella and Morley. These boundary changes came into effect for the 2022 Australian federal election.[3]
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