Electoral district of North West Central

North West Central is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.

North West Central Western Australia—Legislative Assembly
Location of North West Central (dark green) in Western Australia
State	Western Australia
Dates current	2005–present1
MP	Merome Beard
Party	Liberal
Namesake	North-west region of Western Australia
Electors	10,993 (2021)
Area	820,591 km2 (316,832.0 sq mi)
Demographic	Rural, remote and provincial
Electorates around North West Central: Indian Ocean Pilbara Kimberley Northern Territory Indian Ocean North West Central Northern Territory Indian Ocean Kalgoorlie Moore South Australia
Footnotes
1 known as North West Coastal 2005–2008 and North West 2008–2013

The district is mostly based in the rural north-west of Western Australia. It is currently a marginal seat for the Nationals.

History

First known as North West Coastal, the district was first created for the 2005 state election, incorporating territory from the abolished districts of Burrup and Ningaloo. The seat was won by Labor MP, and then member for Burrup, Fred Riebeling.

The district was expanded for the 2008 state election, incorporating more inland territory which resulted in the name change to North West. With Riebeling's decision to retire, the contest pitted Labor MP Vince Catania, then a member of the Legislative Council, against Liberal candidate, and former Ningaloo MP, Rod Sweetman, with Catania emerging victorious. On 20 July 2009, Catania announced his decision to leave the Labor Party to join the rival National Party.^[1]

The 2013 state election saw the Labor-leaning Shire of Roebourne transferred to the Pilbara while taking more central areas of the state including the shires of Sandstone and Wiluna, increasing National's hold on the seat. The increase in terms of area in the central part of the state saw yet another name change to North West Central.

Catania resigned on 8 August 2022, resulting in the 2022 North West Central state by-election,^[2][3] which was retained for the Nationals by Merome Beard.^[4] On 31 October 2023, Beard announced her decision to leave the National Party to join the Liberal Party.^[5]

Geography

Based in the remote north-west of Western Australia, the district includes the towns of Carnarvon, Coral Bay, Cue, Denham, Exmouth, Meekatharra, Mount Magnet, Onslow, Paraburdoo, Sandstone, Tom Price, Warburton, Wiluna and Yalgoo.

Members

North West Coastal (2005–2008)
Member		Party	Term
	Fred Riebeling	Labor	2005–2008
North West (2008–2013)
Member		Party	Term
	Vince Catania	Labor	2008–2009
		National	2009–2013
North West Central (2013–present)
Member		Party	Term
	Vince Catania	National	2013–2022
	Merome Beard	National	2022–2023
		Liberal	2023–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of North West Central

2022 North West Central state by-election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	National	Merome Beard	2,042	40.2	+0.4
	Liberal	Will Baston	1,353	26.6	+18.7
	Greens	Niels Glahn-Bertelsen	635	12.5	+8.4
	Legalise Cannabis	Leanne Lockyer	269	5.3	+5.3
	Western Australia	Andrea Randle	202	4.0	+4.0
	One Nation	Gerald Laurent	197	3.9	+0.9
	Western Australia	Anthony Fels	108	2.1	+2.1
	No Mandatory Vaccination	Aaron Horsman	82	1.6	+0.6
	Independent	Peter Dunne	55	1.1	+1.1
	Small Business	Peter Baker	55	1.1	+1.1
	Independent	Tony Stokes	44	0.9	+0.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jake McCoull	42	0.8	+0.8
Total formal votes			5,084	95.3	−0.2
Informal votes			251	4.7	+0.2
Turnout			5,335	47.7
Two-candidate-preferred result
	National	Merome Beard	3,071	60.5	+8.8
	Liberal	Will Baston	2,008	39.5	+39.5
	National hold

This section is an excerpt from 2022 North West Central state by-election § Election results.[edit]

2021 Western Australian state election: North West Central^[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor	Cherie Sibosado	3,114	40.2	+13.5
	National	Vince Catania	3,075	39.7	+3.6
	Liberal	Alys McKeough	611	7.9	−7.9
	Greens	Sandy Burt	318	4.1	−1.5
	Shooters, Fishers, Farmers	Stefan Colagiuri	233	3.0	+2.6
	One Nation	Robert Tonkin	232	3.0	−8.4
	No Mandatory Vaccination	A. Agyputri	81	1.0	+1.0
	Independent	Henry Seddon	40	0.5	+0.5
	WAxit	Brendan McKay	37	0.5	+0.2
Total formal votes			7,741	95.5	+0.1
Informal votes			367	4.5	−0.1
Turnout			8,108	73.8	−5.5
Two-candidate-preferred result
	National	Vince Catania	3,997	51.7	−8.4
	Labor	Cherie Sibosado	3,738	48.3	+8.4
	National hold		Swing	−8.4

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 Western Australian state election (Legislative Assembly) § North West Central.[edit]

See also

• Division of Durack for the Australian House of Representatives, the largest Federal division by area

References

1. "Catania quits Labor to join Nationals - ABC News".
2. Bourke, Keane (9 August 2022). "Nationals MP Vince Catania hands in resignation for WA seat of North West Central". ABC News. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
3. Law, Peter (9 August 2022). "WA Labor to skip North West Central by-election amid tension between Mark McGowan and Alannah MacTiernan". The West Australian. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
4. Ferguson, Kate; Carmody, James (17 September 2022). "Western Australian Nationals candidate Merome Beard named winner in North West Central by-election". ABC News. Retrieved 17 September 2022.
5. "Nationals MP Merome Beard quits party to join Liberals, throwing opposition alliance into doubt - ABC News".
6. 2022 North West Central By-election, WAEC
7. 2021 State General Election – North West Central District Results, WAEC

External links

• Antony Green. "2008 Election Profile: North West". ABC.
• "Map of North West (2008–)". boundaries.wa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.
• Antony Green. "2005 Election Profile: North West Coastal". ABC.
• "Map of North West Coastal (2005–2008)". boundaries.wa.gov.au. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014.

25°S 122°E / -25; 122