WESTERN AUSTRALIAN ELECTION 2017
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN ELECTION 2017
Collie-PrestonMargin: Liberal 2.8%* |
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Candidates in ballot paper order
Collie-Preston is one of three non-metropolitan seats currently held by Labor, a distinction owed in this case to the outstanding electoral record of Mick Murray, its member of 16 years. Labor's source of strength in the electorate is the coal mining and electricity industry town of Collie, located 50 kilometres inland of Bunbury, which is home to a little over a quarter of the voters. It also accommodates the Bunbury suburb of Eaton, the town of Capel to Bunbury's south, and surrounding dairying and grazing areas. Murray retained the seat by 56 votes in 2013, but the seat has now been rendered notionally Liberal in the redistribution, mostly on account of the Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup and its 4000 voters being added from Warren-Blackwood. There has also been a territory swap with Bunbury, in which Collie-Preston gains 2750 voters in southern Australind and loses 3400 at Dalyellup at the city's southern end. The electorate has existed under its current name since 2008, and is the successor to a Collie electorate that existed from 1904 to 2005, which was superseded by Collie-Wellington from 2005 to 2008. Labor held Collie without interruption from 1908 to 1989, and were unopposed by conservatives at 12 elections from 1917 to 1953. However, Labor's position weakened as the town declined and the electorate expanded into rural territory to make up the numbers. The seat fell into conservative hands for the first time when Hilda Turnbull gained it for the Nationals in 1989, and she retained it at a further two elections before losing to Mick Murray by 34 votes in 2001. Murray's win followed a 19% dive in the combined Liberal and Nationals primary vote, and was assisted by preferences from One Nation, who polled 15.1% and had a policy at the time of directing preferences against all sitting members. The name change to Collie-Wellington in 2005 resulted from an exchange of inland territory for coastal Waroona and Harvey further north, which boosted Murray by 2.5%, and was followed swing in his favour of 6.7% at the election. All but 1.0% of the margin was then lost to the one-vote one-value redistribution before the 2008 election, in which the renamed Collie-Preston lost Waroona and Harvey and gained Eaton and the Shire of Capel. In the context of a losing election for Labor, Murray did well to achieve a status quo result against Liberal candidate Steve Thomas, whose seat of Capel had been abolished in the redistribution. The next redistribution ahead of the 2013 election added 2.8% to Murray's margin by moving the Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup from the electorate (which is now being reversed), and he then survived another close result after a 3.7% swing to the Liberals. Mick Murray is associated with the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union sub-faction of the Left, having been a mechanic in the local coal mining industry before entering parliament. He was promoted to parliamentary secretary in September 2004 and has served on the front bench since the 2008 election defeat, holding the agriculture and food, regional roads, racing and gaming, forestry and South West portfolios since a reshuffle in June 2015. He will be opposed at the coming election by Liberal candidate Elysia Harverson, a Collie Shire councillor and former local journalist with Fairfax Media, and Nationals candidate Monique Warnock, owner of a public relations firm. Going by the Senate vote, Collie-Preston was the fifth strongest state seat for One Nation at the 2016 federal election, and the strongest seat held by Labor. The party's candidate is David Miller, a local electrical fitter. |
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