| Jagajaga |
Division of Kalgoorlie | Kennedy |
 Barry Haase (Lib) His Liberal Party website  Sharon Thiel (ALP) Her ALP website  Robin Chapple (Grn) His Greens website  Ross Patterson (CDP) His Christian Democrats website |
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Location: Outback WA: Broome, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Port Hedland Division named for: The City of Kalgoorlie, named in 1893. The name is an Indigenous word meaning "place of the silky pears" Median weekly family income: $1,075 (36th highest) Persons born in non English speaking countries: 5.1% (103rd highest) Persons of Indigenous origin: 16.1% (2nd highest)* Persons in professional occupations: 22.6% (103rd highest) Persons aged 65 and over: 7.8% (133rd highest) Couple families with dependent children: 44.3% (22nd highest) Dwellings being purchased: 20.4% (123rd highest) Sitting member: Barry Haase (Liberal), elected 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004 Born: 19 November 1945, Southern Cross, Western Australia. Career: Company director 1996 two-party majority: Independent over Labor 10.4 Effect of 1998 redistribution: cannot be calculated 1998 two-party majority: Liberal 02.1 Effect of 2001 redistribution: no change 2001 two-party majority: Liberal 04.4 2004 primary votes: Labor 31.9, Liberal 45.5, Green 6.3 2004 two-party majority: Liberal 06.3 2004 enrolment: 81,987 2007 enrolment: 80,773 (-01.5%) Kalgoorlie has existed since Federation, and since 1922 it has occupied three quarters of the state of WA, making it by far the biggest electoral district in the world. In the south is the old gold-mining centre of Kalgoorlie, in the north are the new mining communities of the Pilbara and the pastoral towns of the Kimberleys. All these towns and the surrounding areas have significant Indigenous communities, giving Kalgoorlie the second-largest Indigenous enrolment of any electorate, although the turnout rate among Indigeous voters is lower than among other voters. Kalgoorlie has a high level of median income for a regional seat, reflecting the very high wages earned by many workers in the mining industry. Kalgoorlie was for many years a safe Labor seat, with the Labor vote based both in the mining towns and the pastoral workers. The Labor vote has been weakened by the decline of the rural working class and the increasing tendency of mining companies to employ contract workers rather than wage-earners. The increased Indigenous vote, which is solid for Labor, has not compensated for this decline. In 2004 the Liberals polled very large majorities of the two-party vote in the small rural booths (95% in Cascade), and more importantly carried most of the booths in Kalgoorlie city, while Labor carried Dampier, Derby, Fitzroy Crossing, Halls Creek, Port Hedland, Roebourne and Wyndham, as well as the remote mobile booths used by most Indigenous voters. The last Labor member, Graeme Campbell, elected in 1980, was expelled from the party in 1996 and retained the seat as an independent. He was defeated in 1998 and later joined the extreme rightwing One Nation party. In 1998 Barry Haase won the seat for the Liberals and has since entrenched himself, although he could be at risk if there is a large statewide swing to Labor. Candidates in ballot-paper order Candidates on YouTube |  Two-party vote by booth (north)
Click to enlarge map Two-party swing by booth (north)
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