Districts in the Country Regions

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The configuration of the three country regions has been materially affected by the decision to propose the reduction of the number of districts from 17 to 16. The alteration of regional boundaries between the country regions is largely a consequence of that decision.

Agricultural Region
Mining and Pastoral Region
South West Region

Table 3: Numbers of parliamentary representatives and electors by Country region

Country region	No. of Legislative Council representatives per region (6 per region)	No. of Legislative Assembly representatives per region (1 per district)	Number of electors at close of electoral roll (9 March 2015)	Area (sq km)
Agricultural	6	4	98,015	259,135
Mining and Pastoral¹	6	4	97,325	2,222,183
South West	6	8	205,270	44,870
Total¹	18	16	400,610	2,526,188
Average district enrolment – Country			25,038
VFADE²			+ 0.46%

¹ Includes Large District Allowance.

² Variation from average district enrolment at 9 March 2015, includes large district allowance for districts in Mining & Pastoral Region.

Agricultural Region

Proposed changes

The Commissioners propose that four districts be situated in the Agricultural Region, the same number as there are at present.

Central Wheatbelt

Gains: Shires of Westonia, Yilgarn, Wandering, Boddington, Pingelly, Cuballing, Williams and West Arthur

Cedes: Shires of Koorda, Wongan-Ballidu, Dowerin and Goomalling

Geraldton no change

Moore

Gains: Shires of Koorda, Wongan-Ballidu, Dowerin and Goomalling

Wagin (Proposal to rename Roe)

Gains: Shire of Ravensthorpe and parts of Shire of Esperance (includes the localities of North Cascade, Cascade, East Munglinup, Lort River, Coomalbidgup, Salmon Gums, Grass Patch, Scaddan, Gibson, Dalyup, Monjingup, Pink Lake, Chadwick, Nulsen, Sinclair, Esperance, West Beach, Castletown, Windabout, Mount Ney, Wittenoom Hills, Neridup, Merivale, Myrup, Bandy Creek, Cape Le Grand and Condingup)

Cedes: Shire of Jerramungup to the Albany district, Shire of Plantagenet and the remaining Stirling Range National Park locality, Shires of Wandering, Boddington, Pingelly, Cuballing, Williams and West Arthur

Agricultural Region gains the Shire of Yilgarn, Westonia, Ravensthorpe and the western localities of the Shire of Esperance from the Mining and Pastoral Region, and cedes the Shire of Jerramungup, the Shire of Plantagenet and the remaining of Stirling Range National Park locality.

This proposed reapportionment means that all districts are within the permissible tolerance range as indicated in Table 4.

Table 4: Agricultural Region and Districts - Number of electors per proposed district

District	Electors (after proposed boundary changes)	Variation from ADE¹ (9 March 2015)	Area (sq km)
Central Wheatbelt	24,962	+ 0.16%	97,669
Geraldton	23,205	- 6.89%	1,798
Moore	26,368	+ 5.80%	81,729
Wagin (Roe)²	23,480	- 5.79%	77,939
Total	98,015		259,135

¹ Average District Enrolment.

² Note that boundaries of newly named district do not correspond with former district boundaries.

Agricultural Region map (PDF, 435 kB)

Commentary

Some of the reasoning behind changes to districts in this Region has been disclosed in the discussion about the critical issue of the reapportionment of districts between regions. One significant change is the revision of the boundary with the Mining and Pastoral Region.

As a consequence of the proposal to abolish the district of Eyre in the Mining and Pastoral Region, the Commissioners propose to amalgamate parts of that district with the district formerly known as Wagin. The Shires of Yilgarn and Westonia have much in common with the adjoining district of Central Wheatbelt and will also be included in the Agricultural Region. The reallocation of various Shires as between Wagin and Central Wheatbelt and as between Central Wheatbelt and Moore was made necessary by the need to balance numbers. The predominant land use in all of these areas is agricultural.

There are two main reasons behind the proposal to split the Shire of Esperance. First, the predominant land use in northern and eastern parts of the Shire is mining and (or) pastoral and this allows them to be included in the Kalgoorlie district of the Mining and Pastoral Region. Secondly, if the whole of the Shire were to have been included in Roe the geographic area would exceed 100,000 square kilometres and the Commissioners feel it is preferable not to have one only of the four districts in the Agricultural Region with an LDA.

In the 2011 distribution the Shire of Plantagenet was transferred to Warren-Blackwood because of the pressure of numbers and in the face of objections from individuals and organisations in the local area on community of interest grounds. This time it is possible to acknowledge those communities of interest and for Plantagenet to revert to Warren-Blackwood.

With the changes proposed for the district of Wagin, the town that previously lent its name to the region will now be located towards the periphery of the region. It is therefore proposed to rename this district Roe. The reconfigured district includes much (although not all) of the land area situated in a district that existed under the name Roe for most of the time between 1950 and the 2007 distribution. John Septimus Roe was an early colonial explorer and Surveyor General.

District of Central Wheatbelt map (PDF, 524 kB)

District of Geraldton map (PDF, 270 kB)

District of Moore map (PDF, 495 kB)

District of Wagin (Molloy) map (PDF, 394 kB)

Mining and Pastoral Region

Proposed changes

The Commissioners propose that the number of districts in the Mining and Pastoral Region be reduced from five to four and that there be consequent changes in regional boundaries.

Eyre abolished

Kalgoorlie

Gains: Shires of Coolgardie, Dundas, the remainder of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and parts of Shire of Esperance (includes the localities of Buraminya, Beaumont, Howick, Boyatup, Cape Arid and Israelite Bay)

Cedes: Shires of Ngaaanyatjarraku, Leonora and parts of the Shire of Laverton (includes the localities of Laverton, Bandya, Cosmo Newberry and Lake Wells

Kimberley no change

North West Central

Gains: Shires of Ngaanyatjarraku, Leonora and parts of the Shire of Laverton (includes the localities of Laverton, Bandya, Cosmo Newberry and Lake Wells)

Pilbara no change

Mining and Pastoral Region cedes the Shires of Ravensthorpe, Yilgarn and Westonia and the western localities of the Shire of Esperance to the Agricultural Region.

This proposed reapportionment means that all districts are within the permissible tolerance range as indicated in Table 5.

Table 5: Mining and Pastoral Region and Districts - Number of electors per proposed district

District	Electors (after proposed boundary changes)	Large District Allowance (LDA)	Electors (including LDA after proposed boundary changes)	Variation from ADE¹ (9 March 2015)	Area (sq km)
Kalgoorlie	17,853	7,270	25,123	+ 0.80%	484,639
Kimberley	16,867	6,315	23,182	- 6.99%	421,011
North West Central	11,430	13,650	25,080	+ 0.63%	910,010
Pilbara	17,842	6,098	23,940	- 3.94%	406,523
Total	63,992	33,333	97,325		2,222,183

¹ Average District Enrolment.

Mining and Pastoral Region map (PDF, 427 kB)

Commentary

With the proposed abolition of Eyre (the reasons for which have been set out above) the former five districts in the Mining and Pastoral Region will need to be reconfigured to four.

The districts of Kimberley and Pilbara have well defined boundaries (generally following local government boundaries) and settled communities of interest. The Commissioners believe that it is possible and desirable to reconfigure the Mining and Pastoral Region without making changes to either of those districts.

Once the decision had been taken that the district to be abolished should be Eyre, the Commissioners had to decide how the areas covered by Eyre should be allocated. The proposals to transfer some of those areas to districts in the Agricultural Region have already been set out. It then fell to consider what proposals should be made for reconfiguring the districts of North West Central and Kalgoorlie.

The proposals are influenced by the need to increase numbers in North West Central. For example, the population of Laverton township was transferred to North West Central but not the entire Shire. The proposal for the Shires of Ngaanyatjarraku, Leonora and parts of Laverton to be included in North West Central has been dictated by the need to bring the district within the permitted tolerance range and notwithstanding what has to be acknowledged as ties enjoyed by those entities to the regional centre of Kalgoorlie. Community of interest was a strong factor in the proposals to rejoin the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and to keep Kalgoorlie, Boulder and Coolgardie together (they have previously been split between Kalgoorlie and Eyre.)

The Commissioners considered renaming North West Central after an historical figure such as Dirk Hartog (who in the early 17^th century landed on the Western Australian shores near Shark Bay). However, the Commissioners note that this district was renamed at the last distribution and the name is a reasonably apt description of the geographical area in which it is located. In the interest of stability the Commissioners have decided not to propose a change of name for this district.

They also considered changing the name of Kalgoorlie to Goldfields. However, given that the locality of Kalgoorlie has been an integral part of the Western Australian story and as it is reasonably central to the reconfigured district, the Commissioners do not propose a name change for this electoral unit.

District of Kalgoorlie map (PDF, 400 kB)

District of Kimberley map (PDF, 326 kB)

District of North West Central map (PDF, 463 kB)

District of Pilbara map (PDF, 707 kB)

South West Region

Proposed changes

The Commissioners propose that eight districts be situated in the South West Region, the same number as there is at present.

Albany

Gains: Shire of Jerramungup

Bunbury

Gains: Dalyellup

Cedes: remainder of Australind

Collie-Preston (proposed to rename as Collie-Capel)

Gains: remainder of Vasse (includes the localities of Geographe, Reinscourt, Yalyalup, Yoongarillup, Sabina River, Hithergreen, Abba River, Ruabon, Wonnerup, Tutunup, Yoganupa and Jarrahwood), remainder of Ludlow and Australind south of Paris Road

Cedes: Dalyellup

Dawesville no change

Mandurah no change

Murray-Wellington no change

Vasse

Gains: localities of Boranup, Redgate, Gnarabup, Prevelly and the remainder of Forest Grove, Witchcliffe, Margaret River, Burnside and Gracetown

Cedes: remainder of Vasse (includes the localities of Geographe, Reinscourt, Yalyalup, Yoongarillup, Sabina River, Hithergreen, Abba River, Ruabon, Wonnerup, Tutunup, Yoganup and Jarrahwood), remainder of Ludlow and Australind south of Paris Road

Warren-Blackwood (proposed to rename as Molloy)

Gains: Shire of Plantagenet and the remainder of the Stirling Range National Park locality

Cedes: localities of Boranup, Redgate, Gnarabup, Prevelly and the remainder of Forest Grove, Witchcliffe, Margaret River, Burnside and Gracetown

South West Region gains the Shire of Jerramungup, the Shire of Plantagenet and the remaining of Stirling Range National Park locality

This proposed reapportionment means that all districts are within the permissible tolerance range as indicated in Table 6.

Table 6: South West Region and Districts - Number of electors per proposed district

District	Electors (after proposed boundary changes)	Variation from ADE¹ (9 March 2015)	Area (sq km)
Albany	25,011	+ 0.35%	10,820
Bunbury	25,537	+ 2.46%	82
Collie-Preston (Collie-Capel)²	26,942	+ 8.10%	3,434
Dawesville	26,511	+ 6.37%	128
Mandurah	25,296	+ 1.50%	71
Murray-Wellington	25,295	+ 1.49%	4,232
Vasse	25,979	+ 4.24%	2,297
Warren-Blackwood (Molloy)²	24,699	- 0.90%	23,806
Total	205,270		44,870

¹ Average District Enrolment.

² Note that boundaries of newly named district do not correspond with former district boundaries.

South West Region map (PDF, 500 kB)

Commentary

The majority of submissions relating to the South West Region suggested that minimal change was required, given that all electorates were within the permitted tolerance range enrolment limits. The Commissioners propose that eight districts be situated in the region, the same as at present. Generally speaking, the Commissioners have attempted to limit the range and extent of change in this Region, but some is deemed necessary particularly to accommodate the flow on effects of changes in the adjoining Agricultural Region. This includes the transfer of the Shire of Jerramungup from Wagin to Albany. The Commissioners understand that residents in the Shire of Jerramungup generally regard Albany as their regional centre and as the district of Albany already includes areas where the land use is agricultural (as well as the town centre) there ought not to be any adverse community of interest implications.

Noting that the name of the current district of Warren-Blackwood has varied in the past depending upon the localities within it, the Commissioners propose that it be renamed Molloy in recognition of the renowned botanist and early settler Georgiana Molloy who lived and worked in the area. The Commissioners invite public feedback on the proposed name, an alternative being to revert to the district’s former name of Blackwood-Stirling, noting that the district as proposed will regain the Stirling Range National Park.

The proposals to realign the boundaries between Vasse and Warren-Blackwood (Molloy) will permit the township of Margaret River (although not the entire locality) to be reunited in the one district. Otherwise, the changes proposed for Vasse and Warren-Blackwood (Molloy) and for Vasse and Collie-Preston (Collie-Capel) are largely dictated by the desirability and (or) necessity of balancing elector numbers. The same can be said for boundary adjustments proposed for the districts of Bunbury and Murray-Wellington.

As the Commissioners understand it, the nomenclature ‘Preston’ in the name Collie-Preston is to recognise the Preston Valley in the Shire of Donnybrook-Balingup. In the 2011 distribution the Shire of Donnybrook (and hence the Preston Valley) was removed from Collie-Preston but the name was not altered. So as better to reflect the geographical coverage of this district, the Commissioners propose that Collie-Preston be renamed Collie-Capel, recognising two of the main shires in the area. Again, the Commissioners invite comment on the proposed name change.

Although the Bunbury district is within permissible limits, Greater Bunbury (City of Bunbury, Australind and Dalyellup) is currently spread over three districts. While it was possible to add Dalyellup to the Bunbury district it was not possible also to add all of Australind. The consequence of this proposal is that Australind will now be split between Collie-Preston and Murray-Wellington.

Noting that Mandurah and Murray-Wellington are adjacent to the boundary with the southern metropolitan area, they have been retained unchanged with low VFADEs (+ 1.51 percent and + 1.49 per cent respectively). The Commissioners are mindful of the new urban developments stretching southwards through the South Metropolitan Region and, consistent with these trends of demographic change, have allowed for growth of electors in localities such as Keralup and Lakelands which are immediately adjacent to current urban development along the Kwinana Freeway and the Greater Peel area.