# Division of Swan

The Division of Swan is an Australian electoral division located in Western Australia.
Swan is a marginal electorate that has swung between both major political parties in the past two decades. It extends across the Swan River from central Perth, and covers most of the area between the Swan and Canning Rivers.
The seat includes a mix of incomes and housing types, from low-price flats to affluent suburbs with Swan River views. The electorate includes the campus of Curtin University, the Welshpool and Kewdale industrial areas, and Perth Airport. Swan covers 151 sq. kilometres.
The current MP is Zaneta Mascarenhas, a member of the Australian Labor Party. She was elected in the 2022 election.

## History

The division was one of the original 65 divisions contested at the first federal election in 1901. It was one of five electorates created by the Federal House of Representatives Western Australian Electorates Act 1900, an act of the parliament of Western Australia. The original bill introduced by Premier John Forrest provided for the seat to be named "Occidental" rather than Swan.
Historically, the electorate was a country seat extending north to Dongara, east to Merredin and south to the coast. It contracted to an area east of the Darling Range and became a safe Country Party seat. Prior to the 1949 election, its old area became the new seat of Moore, while Swan moved into approximately its present position, although initially extending as far north-east as Midland.
For several decades, Swan has been a marginal seat, extending along the Swan and Canning Rivers from the affluent suburbs in the City of South Perth to the west, which typically vote for the Liberal Party, to the City of Belmont to the east and parts of the City of Canning to the south-east, which are more working-class in orientation and typically vote for the Labor Party. From 2004 to 2007 it was the third most marginal electorate in Australia, after Hindmarsh and Kingston, with the ALP incumbent Kim Wilkie winning 50.08 percent of the two-party-preferred vote in 2004. A redistribution ahead of the 2010 election added the strongly Labor-voting suburb of Langford, which was previously within Tangney, which made it a notionally Labor seat. Langford was redistributed to Burt in 2016.
At the 2007 election, Liberal candidate Steve Irons won the seat with a swing of 0.19 percent. Irons was the only Coalition challenger to unseat a Labor incumbent at the 2007 election. However, the election came at a very bad time for the state Labor government, which was only polling at 49 percent support at the time the writs were dropped. Irons was re-elected with a slightly increased majority in 2010, making it a fairly safe Liberal seat. Following the 2016 election Labor candidate Tammy Solonec managed to return Swan to marginal status.
Steve Irons retained the seat in the 2019 election. Hannah Beazley contested the seat for Labor but ultimately conceded defeat. After Steve Iron's retirement at the 2022 Australian federal election, the seat was contested by Kristy McSweeney from the Liberal Party. She was defeated by Zaneta Mascarenhas from the Labor Party.

## 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.
In August 2021, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced that Swan would lose the suburb of Wilson to the seat of Tangney and gain the suburbs of Maida Vale and Wattle Grove and the remainder of Forrestfield and High Wycombe from the seat of Hasluck. These boundary changes took place as of the 2022 election.
Swan is bordered by the Swan River in the north and west, the Canning River and the City of Canning in the south, and Roe Highway, Great Eastern Highway and Perth Airport in the east. Suburbs include:

### City of Belmont

* Ascot
* Belmont
* Cloverdale
* Kewdale
* Perth Airport
* Redcliffe
* Rivervale

### City of Canning

* Bentley
* Cannington
* East Cannington
* Queens Park
* St James
* Welshpool

### City of Kalamunda

* Forrestfield
* High Wycombe
* Maida Vale
* Wattle Grove

### City of South Perth

* Como
* Karawara
* Kensington
* Manning
* Salter Point
* South Perth
* Waterford

### City of Swan

* South Guildford (part)

### Town of Victoria Park

* Burswood
* Carlisle
* Lathlain
* East Victoria Park
* St James
* Victoria Park

## Members

| Member | Party | Term | Notes |
| Sir John Forrest (1847–1918) | Protectionist | 29 March 1901 – 26 May 1909 | Previously held the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Bunbury. Served as minister under Barton, Deakin, Cook and Hughes. Died in office |
| Sir John Forrest (1847–1918) | Liberal | 26 May 1909 – 17 February 1917 | Previously held the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Bunbury. Served as minister under Barton, Deakin, Cook and Hughes. Died in office |
| Sir John Forrest (1847–1918) | Nationalist | 17 February 1917 – 2 September 1918 | Previously held the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Bunbury. Served as minister under Barton, Deakin, Cook and Hughes. Died in office |
| Edwin Corboy (1896–1950) | Labor | 26 October 1918 – 13 December 1919 | Lost seat. Later elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Yilgarn in 1921 |
| John Prowse (1871–1944) | Farmers and Settlers' Association | 13 December 1919 – 24 February 1920 | Transferred to the Division of Forrest |
| John Prowse (1871–1944) | Country | 24 February 1920 – 16 December 1922 | Transferred to the Division of Forrest |
| Henry Gregory (1860–1940) | Country | 16 December 1922 – 15 November 1940 | Previously held the Division of Dampier. Died in office |
| Thomas Marwick (1895–1960) | Country | 21 December 1940 – 21 August 1943 | Previously a member of the Senate. Lost seat |
| Don Mountjoy (1906–1988) | Labor | 21 August 1943 – 28 September 1946 | Lost seat |
| Len Hamilton (1899–1987) | Country | 28 September 1946 – 10 December 1949 | Transferred to the Division of Canning |
| Bill Grayden (1920–) | Liberal | 10 December 1949 – 29 May 1954 | Previously held the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of Middle Swan. Lost seat. Later elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly seat of South Perth in 1956. Currently the oldest living former member of the House of Representatives |
| Harry Webb (1908–2000) | Labor | 29 May 1954 – 10 December 1955 | Transferred to the Division of Stirling |
| Richard Cleaver (1917–2006) | Liberal | 10 December 1955 – 25 October 1969 | Lost seat |
| Adrian Bennett (1933–2006) | Labor | 25 October 1969 – 13 December 1975 | Lost seat |
| John Martyr (1932–2021) | Liberal | 13 December 1975 – 18 October 1980 | Lost seat. Later appointed to the Senate in 1981 |
| Kim Beazley (1948–) | Labor | 18 October 1980 – 2 March 1996 | Served as minister under Hawke and Keating. Served as Deputy Prime Minister under Keating. Transferred to the Division of Brand |
| Don Randall (1953–2015) | Liberal | 2 March 1996 – 3 October 1998 | Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of Canning in 2001 |
| Kim Wilkie (1959–) | Labor | 3 October 1998 – 24 November 2007 | Lost seat |
| Steve Irons (1958–) | Liberal | 24 November 2007 – 11 April 2022 | Retired |
| Zaneta Mascarenhas (1980–) | Labor | 21 May 2022 – present | Incumbent |

## Election results

2022 Australian federal election: Swan :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Labor | Zaneta Mascarenhas | 39,082 | 39.07 | +6.17 |
| | Liberal | Kristy McSweeney | 32,096 | 32.08 | −12.65 |
| | Greens | Clint Uink | 14,861 | 14.86 | +2.86 |
| | United Australia | Paul Hilton | 2,637 | 2.64 | +0.81 |
| | One Nation | Peter Hallifax | 2,544 | 2.54 | −0.33 |
| | Animal Justice | Timothy Green | 2,214 | 2.21 | +0.89 |
| | Western Australia | Rod Bradley | 2,059 | 2.06 | +0.70 |
| | Christians | Dena Gower | 1,930 | 1.93 | +0.20 |
| | Liberal Democrats | Matthew Thompson | 1,821 | 1.82 | +1.82 |
| | Federation | Carl Pallier | 792 | 0.79 | +0.79 |
| Total formal votes | Total formal votes | Total formal votes | 100,036 | 94.75 | +0.59 |
| Informal votes | Informal votes | Informal votes | 5,545 | 5.25 | −0.59 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 105,581 | 87.12 | −1.73 |
| Two-party-preferred result ||||||
| | Labor | Zaneta Mascarenhas | 58,796 | 58.77 | +11.99 |
| | Liberal | Kristy McSweeney | 41,240 | 41.23 | −11.99 |
| | Labor gain from Liberal | Labor gain from Liberal | Swing | +11.99 | |