Division of Forrest

Forrest
Australian House of Representatives Division
Forrest; Australian House of Representatives Division
	Division of Forrest in Western Australia, as of the 2021 redistribution.
Created	1922
MP	Nola Marino
Party	Liberal
Namesake	Sir John Forrest
Electors	113,148 (2022)
Area	11,072 km2 (4,274.9 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural

The Division of Forrest is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia.

Geography

Since 1984, federal electoral division boundaries in Australia have been determined at redistributions by a redistribution committee appointed by the Australian Electoral Commission. Redistributions occur for the boundaries of divisions in a particular state, and they occur every seven years, or sooner if a state's representation entitlement changes or when divisions of a state are malapportioned.^[1]

History

Sir John Forrest, the division's namesake

The division was created in 1922 and is named for Sir John Forrest, the first Premier of Western Australia and a federal Cabinet minister. It is located in the South West region of the state and, as of the 2022 election, includes the Cities of Bunbury and Busselton along with the Shires of Augusta-Margaret River, Capel, Dardanup, Donnybrook-Balingup, and Harvey. The Shire of Nannup was previously part of the seat, but was transferred to the neighbouring electorate of O'Connor following a 2021 redistribution.^[2]

Before the 1943 election, it was a Country Party seat, but since the 1949 election it has been held by the Liberals for all but one term. Labor has only held the seat for three terms, during the high-tide elections of 1943 and 1946, and in the midst of the Coalition's near-defeat of 1969. It reverted to the Liberals in 1972 even as Labor won government. The seat was marginal for most of the 1980s, but a 1990 redistribution made the seat much more secure for the Liberals. In 2022, amidst a statewide collapse of Liberal Party support, the seat was made marginal with sitting member Nola Marino holding the seat on a 4.29 percent margin.

Notable members include Nelson Lemmon, a minister in the Chifley Government, Gordon Freeth, a minister in the Menzies, Holt and Gorton governments, and Geoff Prosser, a minister in the Howard government.

Members

Member	Party	Term	Notes
John Prowse (1871–1944)	Country	16 December 1922 – 21 August 1943	Previously held the Division of Swan. Lost seat
Nelson Lemmon (1908–1989)	Labor	21 August 1943 – 10 December 1949	Served as minister under Chifley. Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of St George in 1954
Gordon Freeth (1914–2001)	Liberal	10 December 1949 – 25 October 1969	Served as minister under Menzies, Holt, McEwen and Gorton. Lost seat
Frank Kirwan (1937–1976)	Labor	25 October 1969 – 2 December 1972	Lost seat
Peter Drummond (1931–2013)	Liberal	2 December 1972 – 5 June 1987	Retired
Geoff Prosser (1948–)		11 July 1987 – 17 October 2007	Served as minister under Howard. Retired
Nola Marino (1954–)		24 November 2007 – present	Served as Chief Government Whip in the House under Turnbull and Morrison. Incumbent

Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Forrest^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Nola Marino	41,006	43.12	−9.36
	Labor	Bronwen English	26,092	27.44	+6.29
	Greens	Christine Terrantroy	12,780	13.44	+0.60
	One Nation	Shane Mezger	5,020	5.28	−0.67
	Great Australian	Tracy Aitken	2,907	3.06	+3.06
	United Australia	Helen Allan	2,426	2.55	+0.82
	Western Australia	Greg Stephens	2,130	2.24	+0.95
	Liberal Democrats	Paul Markham	1,577	1.66	+1.66
	Federation	Mailee Dunn	1,152	1.21	+1.21
Total formal votes			95,090	94.78	+0.42
Informal votes			5,234	5.22	−0.42
Turnout			100,324	88.78	−2.36
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Nola Marino	51,625	54.29	−10.29
	Labor	Bronwen English	43,465	45.71	+10.29
	Liberal hold		Swing	−10.29