Seat of the week: Curtin

Despite bearing the name of one of Labor’s greatest heroes, and covering his old home turf of Cottesloe, the Perth seat of Curtin is blue in tooth and claw. Julie Bishop has held the seat since she unseated a conservative independent in 1998.

Blue and red numbers respectively indicate booths with two-party majorities for the Liberal and Labor parties. Click for larger image. Map boundaries courtesy of Ben Raue at The Tally Room.

Julie Bishop’s seat of Curtin covers Perth’s most affluent and Liberal-friendly areas, from Mosman Park and Cottesloe north along the coast to the southern part of Scarborough, and along the northern shore of the Swan River through the prestige suburbs of Peppermint Grove and Dalkeith. An area of relative Labor strength is provided by the area immediately west of the city. The electorate was created with the expansion of parliament in 1949, prior to which the Perth metropolitan area had been divided in highly variable fashion between Perth and Fremantle, with each consistently accounting for some of the area of modern Curtin. Curtin was originally limited to Perth’s inner west, with Fremantle continuing to extend up the coast as far as City Beach, before acquiring its coastal orientation with the redistribution of 1955. Fremantle was thereafter concentrated more to the south of the river, although its present northern limit at the suburban boundary of North Fremantle and Mosman Park was not established until 1984.

Despite bearing the name of a Labor Party legend, Curtin has been a blue-ribbon Liberal seat since its creation, being held first by prime ministerial contender and future Governor-General Paul Hasluck, and then by Victor Garland, a minister in the McMahon and Fraser governments. Garland’s resignation in early 1981 led to a preselection brawl in which the then Premier, Sir Charles Court, marshaled forces behind Allan Rocher to thwart Fred Chaney’s ambition to move from the Senate to the House, which he would eventually realise when he became member for Pearce in 1990. Rocher was defeated for preselection ahead of the 1996 election by Ken Court, son of the aforementioned Charles and brother of Richard, who was then Premier. This greatly displeased the newly reinstalled federal Liberal leader, John Howard, who did little to assist Court’s election campaign or to dispel the conception that he owed his preselection to controversial party powerbroker Noel Crichton-Browne. Rocher was thus easily able to retain his seat as an independent on Labor preferences, while a similar story played out in the northern suburbs seat of Moore.

Curtin returned to the Liberal fold in 1998 when Rocher was defeated by a new Liberal candidate, Julie Bishop, who had previously been a managing partner at law firm Clayton Utz. Bishop’s early career progress within the Howard government was reckoned to have been constrained by her ties to Peter Costello, and in the wake of the Coalition’s 2001 state election defeat she signed on to an abortive scheme to move into state politics to succeed Richard Court as Liberal leader. She eventually won promotion to Ageing Minister in 2003, and attained cabinet rank as Education, Science and Training Minister in January 2006. Reflecting the continuing strong performance of the party’s Western Australian branch, she was elevated to the deputy leadership in the wake of the 2007 election defeat. Her success in maintaining that position under three leaders reportedly led internal critics to dub her “the cockroach”, although dissatisfaction with her performance as Shadow Treasurer caused her to be reassigned to foreign affairs in January 2009. She retained the portfolio throughout the remaining years in opposition, further serving in the shadow portfolio of trade after the 2010 election, and was confirmed as Foreign Minister with the election of the Abbott government in September 2013.

UPDATE: Channel Seven has reported the ReachTEL poll conducted on Thursday night found only 28% believe the government’s new policies to stop boat arrivals were working versus 49% who don’t, while 56% say the government should announce boat arrivals when they happen. Last night it was reported that 53% think the Prime Minister should deliver the explanation for spying activities demanded by Indonesia, while 34% say he shouldn’t; and that 38% support Australia’s bugging activities with 39% opposed. It appears Channel Seven are sitting on voting intention numbers.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

1,517 comments on “Seat of the week: Curtin”

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  3. Good Morning

    Victoria

    I have not seen any references anywhere to any such delegation so I must have misheard. As in my bad.

    The mumbles tweet had in brackets irony font FWIW.

    Bishop diplomatic skills on display

    @smh: Aussie Colin Russell only Greenpeace activist not bailed in Russia. http://t.co/VrDjHxpTVw

  4. [Meanwhile Howes, whose addiction to self-promotion sometimes approaches caricature (he last month called a press conference to announce he wasn’t contesting a Senate vacancy that didn’t yet exist) will likely continue to create problems for his party.
    For decades perhaps. He’s only in his early 30s.]

    Yeah he is a keeper …

  5. That Thailand ocean going tug is no longer at Christmas Island.

    Was it just a casual visitor then?

    If there had been asylum seekers aboard, you would assume we would have heard about it by now.

  9. [Yeah he is a keeper …]

    He is rotten, smug and embodies the worst aspects of the Labor Party and labour movement.

    I discussed this the other day and the dissent I got was generic statements about Labor being the unions (which was totally irrelevant to my objection to Howes himself.)

  13. Morning all & thanks again BK.

    Interesting what Seccombe’s article has to say about Textor. I was thinking the same thoughts yesterday, it all looks a bit premeditated in my opinion. As someone on the Drum pointed out the other day if it had been a nobody who tweeted the porn star stuff who could have cared less.

    Gutter politics at it’s finest, what a disgrace.

  14. [Aussie Colin Russell only Greenpeace activist not bailed in Russia.]

    He isn’t a real Australia because Tony decides who are real Australians and if you care for the environment you deserve whatever torture and punishment you get. Tony only governs for those who agree with him.

  16. [He is rotten, smug and embodies the worst aspects of the Labor Party and labour movement.]

    The worst thing about Howes is that he is almost certain to one day be preselected for a safe ALP seat.

  19. [The worst thing about Howes is that he is almost certain to one day be preselected for a safe ALP seat.]

    Yeah I know.

    I can hold my nose and live with that. It would not be the first, nor last, time someone completely undeserving gets into caucus. But I draw the line at letting him anywhere near the leadership.

  23. When you are quoting someone it’s not a bad idea to include the whole quote. Peter Brent made it clear that his reference to Textor and free speech was ironic. Regular readers of his tweets would have known that even without him helpfully writing after it.

  24. I would just like to say that the success of the Mount Hawthorn Primary School booth (the red 51 I think) is largely due to me… GO GREEN POWER!

  28. The only Greenpeace activist not bailed is the Australian!

    That is pathetic, I’m off to do something useful around the house. It’s all too depressing reading about how sh%t house Abbott & Co are. 🙁

  29. [I can see Howes ending up in Cabinet/shadow cabinet with an entitlement mentality that far exceeds his capability.]

    Yeah, I accept that as a reality too. I can’t think of any cabinet/shadow cabinet, of either party, that didn’t have a sprinkling of careerist duds (and not just in low ministries either)

  30. mikehilliard

    Indonesia would be well aware of the response made by Abbott re Textor in Parliament. The message to the indonesians was clear. That is why at the time i wondered if Abbott was more than okay with the situation escalating, as we knew it would. Nothing else makes sense.
    This of course does not take into account the fact that Abbott is delusional and believes he has the full measure of SBY.

  33. Very good insight

    “@sortius: .@lynlinking @Vermeera it’s very hard to tell where this government ends & News Corp begins. The whole Indo-Aus debacle shows this.”

  35. Laurie Oakes

    [JOHN Howard had been in office less than two months when 35 people were shot dead and 23 wounded at Port Arthur in Tasmania.

    The way Mr Howard responded to the massacre – taking up the issue of gun control and forcing the states to implement tough firearms laws – showed he had the right stuff to be prime minister.]

    http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/opinion/lauire-oakes-indonesian-spying-crisis-tests-prime-minister-tony-abbotts-mettle/story-fni6unxq-1226766366240

  39. victoria@80


    Indonesia would be well aware of the response made by Abbott re Textor in Parliament. The message to the indonesians was clear. That is why at the time i wondered if Abbott was more than okay with the situation escalating, as we knew it would.

    In which case he deserves what is happening and what will happen.

    I’m more inclined to think he is just dumb, arrogant and expects RI to accept the crap that Australian voters have.

    How delicious though that they are using him now for their own political purposes in the run up to their elections.

  40. [The way Mr Howard responded to the massacre]

    This is absolute rubbish, Howard’s response was a no brainer and would probably have been better and stronger if he wasn’t held back by the Nationals.

  46. Is this a stuffup or deliberate cruelty. Morrison would have known by the time of his presser,.
    [A group of unaccompanied child asylum seekers have been transferred from Nauru to Brisbane amid concerns about their mental health and fears they may try to self harm.
    Fairfax Media understands the medical evacuation, which began on Friday has occurred in part because the Nauruan government has expressed safety concerns about the children.

    Further, it is understood that one of the children being medically evacuated is a teenage girl who was only sent to Nauru three days ago. Fairfax Media has been told by well-placed sources the girl had attempted suicide on Christmas Island in recent weeks and had also been self harming but that did not prevent her deportation to Nauru.
    Immigration Minister Scott Morrison has been contacted for comment.]

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/asylum-seeker-children-moved-from-nauru-due-to-mental-health-fears-20131123-2y29d.html#ixzz2lPv8YsNn

  47. lizzie

    Its a pattern. So no mistake. In presser on Friday press was asking about 15 year old kept apart from his father whom was hospitalised due to a heart attack.

  48. [The gg should sack the govt. Truly. She might

    She most certainly WON’T do anything of the sort!]

    Yeah Abbott would have to lose the confidence of the house, losing regional respect, and the confidence of anyone with an IQ above 5 isn’t grounds sadly.

  50. [A group of unaccompanied child asylum seekers have been transferred from Nauru to Brisbane amid concerns about their mental health and fears they may try to self harm]

    Even if Morrison didn’t know he is responsible for the Child in a real way, a stark contrast to the inferred responsibility the sick and deceitful Abbott tried to pin on labor for the pink batt industrial crimes by businesses.

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