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Australian federal election, 2019
Division of O'Connor, Western Australia
Southern Western Australia: Albany, Collie, Kalgoorlie, Katanning, Wagin
State seats: All of
Albany,
Kalgoorlie and
Roe, parts of
Central Wheatbelt,
Collie-Preston,
North-West Central and
Warren-Blackwood
Local government areas: All of Albany, Boyup Brook, Bridgetown-Greenbushes, Brookton, Collie, Coolgardie, Corrigin,
Cranbrook, Denmark, Dundas, Esperance, Gnowangerup, Jerramumgup, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Kent, Kondinin, Kulin,
Lake Grace, Laverton, Leonora, Manjimup, Menzies, Ngaanyatjarraku, Plantagenet, Ravensthorpe, Wagin, Wandering,
West Arthur and Williams
Enrolment at close of rolls: 101,904
1999 republic referendum: No 71.9
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 56.2
Sitting member: Rick Wilson (Liberal):
Elected 2013, 2016
2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 16.6%
2010 Nationals majority over Liberal: 3.6%
2013 Liberal majority over Nationals: 1.0%
2016 Liberal majority over Labor: 15.1%
Status: Safe Liberal
2016 results
Statistics and history
Candidates in ballot-paper order:
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 |
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1. John Hassell
The Nationals |
2. Nelson Gilmour
Australian Greens |
3. Shelley Payne
Australian Labor Party |
4. Anthony Fels
United Australia Party |
5. Rick Wilson
Liberal Party |
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 |
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6. Ian 't Hart
Australian Christians |
7. Peter Swift
Western Australia Party |
8. Dean Smith
Pauline Hanson's One Nation |
9. Nicholas Robinson
The Great Australian Party |
Candidate websites:
Nelson Blake Gilmour
John Hassell
Rick Wilson
Division of O'Connor
O'Connor was created in 1980, uniting the western, rural halves of the old seats of Canning and Moore. It then
covered the whole of the Wheat Belt of WA, one of the world's great wheat-producing regions. It was the most rural
electorate in Australia, with the highest proportion of its workforce engaged in agriculture of any seat. Like all
rural seats, it had and still has a relatively low median family income level, but also has a surprisingly high level
of people in professional occupations.
The 2010 redistribution, however, again cut the Wheat Belt in half, with the northern half going into the new seat of
Durack and the southern half being united with the city of Kalgoorlie and the southern part of outback WA to form
O'Connor. Kalgoorlie was once a Labor stronghold, but in recent years the Labor vote has declined so far that the state
seat now elects a Liberal MLA. On the current boundaries 17.8% of the workforce is employed in agriculture.
Until 2010, O'Connor had always been an extremely safe seat for its first and only member, the very conservative and
eccentric Liberal Wilson Tuckey. During the Liberals' time in opposition from 1983 to 1996 Tuckey was an effective
"head-kicker." In government he was forced to resign from the Howard ministry when he foolishly wrote to a (Labor)
state minister asking that his son be excused a traffic fine. By 2010, when Tuckey was 75, voters had apparently
tired of him, and he was defeated by a Nationals candidate, Tony Crook. Crook didn't like being a federal MP and
retired after one term, whereupon the seat returned to the Liberals.
Rick Wilson, Liberal MP for O'Connor since 2013, was a farmer at Katanning before entering politics. Labor is no
longer a threat in Kalgoorlie, and the danger from the Nationals has receded - in 2016 they polled only 18.4% - so
Wilson now seems fairly secure in this seat.
The Nationals candidate in 2019 is John Hassell. The Labor candidate is Shelley Payne, an engineer and Esperance
Shire councillor. The Greens candidate is Nelson Blake Gilmour. The Australian Christians candidate Ian 't Hart is a teacher
in a Christian school.
Demographics:
Median weekly household income: $1,325 (Australia $1,438)
People over 65: 16.6% (Australia 15.8%)
Indigenous: 5.9% (Australia 2.8%)
Australian born: 72.1% (Australia 66.7%)
Non-English-speaking households: 8.4% (Australia 22.2%)
Catholics 16.2% (Australia 22.6%)
No religion 34.4% (Australia 29.6%)
University graduates: 11.0% (Australia 22.0%)
Professional and managerial employment: 30.1% (Australia 35.2%)
Employed in manufacturing and construction: 17.4% (Australia 22.9%)
Employed in agriculture: 17.8% (Australia 3.3%)
Paying a mortgage: 31.4% (Australia 34.5%)
Renting: 30.7% (Australia 30.9%)
Traditional families: 28.9% (Australia 32.8%)
Members:
Hon Wilson Tuckey (Lib) 1980-2010
Tony Crook (Nat) 2010-13
Richard Wilson (Lib) 2013-
Boundaries following 2016 redistribution:
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