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| Adam Carr's Election Archive
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Australian federal election, 2025
Division of Curtin, Western Australia
Named for: Rt Hon John Curtin (1885-1945), federal MP 1928-31, 1934-45, Leader of the Opposition 1935-41, Prime Minister 1941-45
Western Perth: Churchlands, Innaloo, Nedlands, Scarborough, Subiaco
Enrolment at 2019 election: 100,365
Enrolment at 2022 election: 119,268 (+19.0)
1999 republic referendum: Yes 55.5
2018 same-sex marriage survey: Yes 72.2
2023 Voice referendum: Yes 51.5
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Sitting member: Kate Chaney (Independent): Elected 2022
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2007 Liberal majority over Labor: 13.6%
2010 Liberal majority over Labor: 16.2%
2013 Liberal majority over Labor: 17.4%
2016 Liberal majority over Labor: 20.7%
2019 Liberal majority over Labor: 14.3%
2022 Independent majority over Liberal 1.3%
2025 notional Independent majority over Liberal 1.3%
Status 2022: Very marginal Independent (over Liberal)
Liberal two-party vote 1983-2022
2022 results
Statistics and history
Announced candidates:
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Kate Chaney
Independent |
Tom White
Liberal Party |
Division of Curtin
Curtin was created in 1949, based in Perth's western beachside suburbs. This is the most affluent part of Perth and the
seat has never come close to electing a Labor member. Subsequent redistributions have extended the seat northwards into
slightly less affluent areas, without much weakening the Liberal position. Curtin has among the country's highest median
family incomes and highest levels of people in professional and managerial occupations. It is also an ageing area with a fairly high
level of over 65s and a fairly low level of families with dependent children. It has a high level of immigrants
from the UK, but is otherwise fairly monocultural.
The first member for Curtin was
Sir Paul Hasluck, Liberal foreign minister and later Governor-General.
Allan Rocher, elected in 1981, resigned from the Liberal Party after being replaced as Liberal candidate for the 1996 election by
Ken Court, the Premier's brother. He retained the seat as an independent, but was defeated in 1998 by
Julie Bishop.
Bishop was a favourite of Prime Minister
John Howard and was a senior minister in his government's last term. She was elected
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party after the 2007 election defeat, and retained the position under four successive Liberal leaders. She was
Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018. In August 2018 she made a bid for the Liberal leadership but was
out-manoeuvred by
Scott Morrison, and finished third in the party-room ballot. She retired in 2019 and was succeeded by Celia Hammond, Vice-Chancellor of Notre Dame Catholic university. She was notably more conservative than Bishop, being a climate denialist and a critic of "militant feminists." These views, as well as the unpopularity of the Morrison Government with
upper-income voters, led to her defeat by a "Teal" independent at the 2022 election.
Kate Chaney, independent MP for Curtin since 2022, is the niece of one former Liberal minister, Fred Chaney, and the grand-daughter of another, the late Sir Frederick Chaney. She is a lawyer and was director of innovation and strategy for Anglicare WA before her election. The Liberals will be very keen to regain this traditionally-safe seat in 2025. The Liberal candidate will be Tom White, a former Uber executive and adviser to Liberal state minister Peter Collier.
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