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| Adam Carr's Election Archive
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Australian federal election, 2019
Division of Curtin, Western Australia
Western Perth: Churchlands, Mount Hawthorn, Nedlands, Subiaco
State seats: All of
Churchlands and
Nedlands, parts of
Cottesloe and
Scarborough
Local government areas: All of Cambridge, Cottesloe, Mosman Park, Nedlands, Peppermint Grove and
Subiaco, parts of Stirling
Enrolment at close of rolls: 100,365
1999 republic referendum: Yes 55.5
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 72.2
Sitting member: Hon Julie Bishop (Liberal):
Elected 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016. Retiring 2019
2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 13.6%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 16.2%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 17.4%
2016 Liberal majority over Labor: 20.7%
Status: Very safe Liberal
2016 results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
1. Joan Lever
United Australia Party |
2. Cameron Pidgeon
Australian Greens |
3. Celia Hammond
Liberal Party |
4. Louise Stewart
Independent |
5. Bill Edgar
Pauline Hanson's One Nation |
 |
 |
 |
6. Deonne Kingsford
Australian Christians |
7. Robert Meecham
Australian Labor Party |
8. Andrew Mangano
Western Australia Party |
Candidate websites:
Celia Hammond
Robert Meecham
Cameron Pidgeon
Louise Stewart
Division of Curtin
Curtin was created in 1949, based in Perth's western beachside suburbs. This is the most affluent part of Perth and the
seat has never come close to electing a Labor member. Subsequent redistributions have extended the seat northwards into
slightly less affluent areas, only slightly weakening the Liberal position. Curtin has among the country's highest median
family incomes and highest levels of people in professional and managerial occupations. It is also an ageing area with a fairly high
level of over 65s and a fairly low level of families with dependent children. It has a high level of immigrants
from the UK, but is otherwise fairly monocultural.
The first member for Curtin was Sir Paul Hasluck, Liberal foreign minister and later Governor-General. Alan Rocher,
elected in 1981, resigned from the Liberal Party after being replaced as Liberal candidate for the 1996 election by Ken
Court, the Premier's brother. He retained the seat as an independent, but was defeated in 1998.
Julie Bishop, Liberal MP for Curtin since 1998, was a barrister and solicitor before entering politics, and in 1998
was managing partner at Clayton Utz, a leading law form. She was a favourite of Prime Minister John Howard and was a
senior minister in his government's last term. She was elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party after the 2007 election
defeat, and retained the position under four successive Liberal leaders. Despite many media promptings,
she never sought the leadership herself. Her reward was the plum post of Minister for Foreign Affairs, which she
held from 2013.
In August 2018, when it became clear that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was not going to survive a challenge from the
candidate of the right-wing faction, Peter Dutton, Bishop finally made a bid for the Liberal leadership. But she was
out-manoeuvred by the Treasurer, Scott Morrison, who emerged as the moderate faction's candidate (despite being
considerably more conservative than Bishop). Bishop finished third in the party-room ballot, and then relinquished the deputy
leadership to Josh Frydenberg. She also stood down from the Cabinet. In February 2019 she announced that she would not
contest Curtin again.
The new Liberal candidate is Celia Hammond, until recently Vice-Chancellor of Notre Dame, a Catholic university. She is
notably more conservative than Bishop, and defeated Bishop's preferred successor.
Labor's first candidate, Tony Walker, a teacher and union official, withdrew in March for work-related
reasons. In April Labor sprang a surprise by announcing that Melissa Parke, the former Member for Fremantle and
minister in the Rudd government, would contest the seat. This soon backfired when critical comments Parke had
made about Israel were revealed, and she immediately withdrew, leaving Labor to instal a last-minute candidate in
Robert Meecham, a retired public servant.
The Greens candidate will be Cameron Pidgeon, a teacher. The Australian Christians candidate is Deonne Kingsford, a retired real-estate agent.
A more serious threat to the Liberals than any of these is Louise Stewart, a wealthy businesswoman and former head of Subcontractors WA, who is running as an independent Liberal,
on a platform stressing action on climate change (Hammond is a climate denialist).
Demographics:
Median weekly household income: $2,052 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 16.5% (Australia 15.8%)
Australian born: 60.3% (Australia 66.7%)
Non-English-speaking households: 19.4% (Australia 22.2%)
Catholics 21.7% (Australia 22.6%)
No religion 34.8% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 44.1% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 55.4% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 14.7% (Australia 22.9%)
Paying a mortgage: 30.7% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 31.7% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 31.3% (Australia 32.8%)
Members:
Rt Hon Sir Paul Hasluck (Lib) 1949-69
Hon Victor Garland (Lib) 1969-81
Allan Rocher (Lib, Ind) 1981b-98
Hon Julie Bishop (Lib) 1998-2019
Boundaries following 2016 redistribution:
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