Electoral district of Southern River

Southern River Western Australia—Legislative Assembly
State	Western Australia
Dates current	1996–present
MP	Peter Abetz
Party	Liberal
Namesake	Southern River
Area	39 km2 (15.1 sq mi)
Demographic	South Metropolitan

Southern River is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.

The district is a marginal seat based in the southern suburbs of Perth.

Geography

Southern River is an electorate situated in Perth's southern suburbs. The district includes the suburb of Southern River, large parts of the suburbs of Canning Vale and Huntingdale, as well as small parts of the suburbs of Thornlie and Gosnells.

History

Southern River was first contested at the 1996 state election. The seat was won by Liberal Party candidate Monica Holmes who defeated Labor candidate Judyth Watson, the latter being at the time member for the abolished Kenwick. Holmes was defeated at the 2001 state election by Labor candidate Paul Andrews.

The redistribution ahead of the 2005 state election shifted Southern River eastward, making the seat safer for the Labor Party. That election saw Paul Andrews defeat Monica Holmes a second time, with a much wider margin in large part due to the redistribution changes. The next redistribution saw much of the previous changes reversed, making Southern River once again a marginal seat. With Labor's hold on the seat now much more tenuous, Andrews was defeated at the 2008 state election by Liberal candidate Peter Abetz.

Members for Southern River

Member		Party	Term
	Monica Holmes	Liberal	1996–2001
	Paul Andrews	Labor	2001–2008
	Peter Abetz	Liberal	2008–present

Election results

Main article: Electoral results for the district of Southern River

Western Australian state election, 2013: Southern River

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Peter Abetz	13,949	63.1	+18.2
	Labor	Susy Thomas	6,421	29.0	–9.6
	Greens	Kate Gnanapragasam	1,176	5.3	–4.8
	Christians	Damian Posthuma	570	2.6	–0.3
Total formal votes			22,116	93.8	-0.2
Informal votes			1,464	6.2	+0.2
Turnout			23,580	90.8
Two-party-preferred result
	Liberal	Peter Abetz	14,777	67.0	+15.1
	Labor	Susy Thomas	7,286	33.0	–15.1
	Liberal hold		Swing	+15.1

External links

• ABC Election Profiles: 2005 2008
• WAEC District Maps: 1996–2005 2005–2008 2008–