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Revision as of 09:03, 10 April 2007

A general election was held for parliamentary seats in the Australian state of Western Australia on Saturday February 26 2005. The incumbent Australian Labor Party, led by Premier Geoff Gallop, retained its majority in the Legislative Assembly. Labor managed to retain all of the seats it had gained in 2001 from the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia except one - the seat of Bunbury - while unexpectedly gaining the safe Liberal seat of Kingsley.

An unusual feature of the election was the antagonistic competition between the Liberals and the Nationals, who prior to 2001 had governed in coalition. After Federal MP Wilson Tuckey visited National-held seats early in the campaign, the Nationals vowed publicly to block key Liberal campaign promises if elected. The Liberals lost Greenough, a safe seat near Geraldton formerly held by Sir David Brand, to Nationals candidate and former ABC weatherman Grant Woodhams, while the Nationals lost Roe, a safe seat incorporating Esperance and the southeastern Wheatbelt, to Liberal candidate and local businessman Graham Jacobs. The Nationals have since become an independent centrist party and sit on the centre benches in both Houses of the Parliament of Western Australia.

The election was fought amidst a generally solid economic outlook for Western Australia, as well as the personal popularity of the premier, who had implemented socially progressive and economic conservative policies during his first term in office.

Electoral system

The Western Australian Legislative Assembly consists of 57 members, elected in single-member electorates by preferential Instant-runoff voting.

Until after the 2005 election, a system of malapportionment where rural and remote seats had a lower number of electors, giving them a greater weight in Parliament than their populations would ordinarily merit, was in place.

The Western Australian Legislative Council consists of 34 members, elected for fixed four-year terms. Each member is elected using a proportional and preferential voting system using the single transferable vote method, and represents one of six multi-member regions. Two of the regions elect seven members, while four elect five.

Legislative Assembly results

In the Western Australian Legislative Assembly:

• the Australian Labor Party won 32 seats
• the Liberal Party of Australia won 18 seats
• the National Party of Australia won 5 seats

Independent candidates (those not affiliated to any party) won 2 seats.

For a list of members, see Members of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly, 2005-2009.

Legislative Council results

Elections were held for all seats in the Western Australian Legislative Council:

• the Australian Labor Party won 16 seats
• the Liberal Party of Australia won 15 seats
• the Greens WA won 2 seats
• the National Party of Australia won 1 seat

In the Legislative Council, Labor and the Liberals each gained three seats, at the expense of the Greens and One Nation. The latter party saw its parliamentary representation wiped out.

References

• Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Western Australia Election 2005
• Western Australian Electoral Commission - 2005 Election
• University of Western Australia: Australian Government and Politics Database

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• Western Australia stubs
• Elections in Western Australia
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• 2005 elections