View source for Division of Swan

{{short description|Australian federal electoral division}}
{{about|the Australian constituency|other kinds of divisions|Swan (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2017}}
{{Infobox Australian electorate
| federal   = yes
| name      = Swan
| image     = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|from=Australian Federal Electorates/Western Australia (2025)/Swan.map|frame-height=300|frame-width=400|overlay-horizontal-alignment=right|overlay-vertical-alignment=bottom|overlay=[[File:Division of Swan 2025.svg|x100px]]}}
| caption   = Interactive map of electorate boundaries from the [[2025 Australian federal election|2025 federal election]]
| created   = 1901
| mp        = [[Zaneta Mascarenhas]]
| mp-party  = [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| namesake  = [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]]
| electors  = 121335
| electors_year = [[2022 Australian federal election|2022]]
| area      = 134
| class     = Inner metropolitan
| near-n        = [[Division of Hasluck|Hasluck]]
| near-ne       = [[Division of Hasluck|Hasluck]]
| near-e        = [[Division of Bullwinkel|Bullwinkel]]
| near-se       = [[Division of Burt|Burt]]
| near-s        = [[Division of Tangney|Tangney]]
| near-sw       = [[Division of Tangney|Tangney]]
| near-w        = [[Division of Perth|Perth]]
| near-nw       = [[Division of Perth|Perth]]
}}
The '''Division of Swan''' is an [[Electorates of the Australian House of Representatives|Australian electoral division]] in the [[States and territories of Australia|state]] of [[Western Australia]].

Swan is a [[Swing seat|marginal]] electorate that has swung between both major [[List of political parties in Australia|political parties]] in the past two decades. It extends across the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]] from central [[Perth]], and covers most of the area between the Swan and [[Canning River]]s.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Swan (Key Seat) - Federal Electorate, Candidates, Results |url=https://abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/swan |access-date=2022-06-16 |website=abc.net.au |language=en-AU}}</ref>

The seat includes a mix of [[Median household income in Australia and New Zealand|incomes]] and [[housing types]], from low-price flats to [[Wealth|affluent]] suburbs with Swan River views.<ref name=":1" /> The electorate includes the campus of [[Curtin University]], the [[Welshpool Road|Welshpool]] and [[Kewdale, Western Australia|Kewdale]] industrial areas, and [[Perth Airport]].<ref name=":1" /> Swan covers 151 sq. kilometres.<ref name=":1" />

The current [[Australian House of Representatives|MP]] is [[Zaneta Mascarenhas]], a member of the [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]]. She was first elected in the [[2022 Australian federal election|2022 federal election]].

==History==
[[File:Swan River,Perth,Western Australia.jpg|thumb|left|[[Swan River (Western Australia)|Swan River]], the division's namesake]]
The division was one of the [[List of Australian electorates contested at every election|original 65 divisions]] contested at the [[1901 Australian federal election|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]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/law_a142972.html|title=Federal House of Representatives Western Australian Electorates Act 1900|work=Western Australian Legislation|publisher=Government of Western Australia|access-date=24 July 2024}}</ref> The original bill introduced by Premier [[John Forrest]] provided for the seat to be named "Occidental" rather than Swan.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://john.curtin.edu.au/fremantle/boundaries.html|title=Changing boundaries|work=The Federal Electorate of Fremantle: A History Since 1901|first=David|last=Black|year=2010|publisher=John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library|access-date=24 July 2024}}</ref>
Forrest himself would become the first member for Swan.

Historically, the electorate was a country seat extending north to [[Dongara, Western Australia|Dongara]], east to [[Merredin, Western Australia|Merredin]] and south to the coast. It contracted to an area east of the [[Darling Range]] and became a safe [[National Party of Australia|Country Party]] seat. Prior to the [[1949 Australian federal election|1949 election]], its old area became the new seat of [[Division of Moore|Moore]], while Swan moved into approximately its present position, although initially extending as far north-east as [[Midland, Western Australia|Midland]].{{cn|date=July 2024}}

For several decades, Swan has continually been a marginal seat, extending along the Swan and [[Canning River (Western Australia)|Canning River]]s from the affluent suburbs in the [[City of South Perth]] to the west, which typically vote for the [[Liberal Party of Australia|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 [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]]. From 2004 to 2007 it was the third most marginal electorate in Australia, after [[Division of Hindmarsh|Hindmarsh]] and [[Division of Kingston|Kingston]], with the ALP incumbent [[Kim Wilkie]] winning 50.08 percent of the two-party-preferred vote in [[2004 Australian federal election|2004]]. A redistribution ahead of the [[2010 Australian federal election|2010 election]] added the strongly Labor-voting suburb of [[Langford, Western Australia|Langford]], which was previously within [[Division of Tangney|Tangney]], which made it a notionally Labor seat. Langford was redistributed to [[Division of Burt|Burt]] in 2016.{{cn|date=July 2024}}

At the [[2007 Australian federal election|2007 election]], Liberal candidate [[Steve Irons]] won the seat with a swing of 0.19 percent.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://results.aec.gov.au/13745/website/HouseDivisionFirstPrefs-13745-247.htm|title=House of Representatives Division First Preferences|first=Australian Electoral|last=Commission|website=results.aec.gov.au}}</ref>  Irons was the only [[Coalition (Australia)|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 Australian federal election|2010]], making it a fairly safe Liberal seat. Following the [[2016 Australian federal election|2016 election]] Labor candidate Tammy Solonec managed to return Swan to marginal status.

Steve Irons retained the seat in the [[2019 Australian federal election|2019 election]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.communitynews.com.au/southern-gazette/news/steve-irons-back-as-swan-pm-as-hannah-beazley-offically-concedes-she-cant-win|title=Federal election 2019 Swan result|date=2019-05-19|website=Community News Group|language=en|access-date=2019-06-23}}</ref> [[Hannah Beazley]] contested the seat for Labor but ultimately conceded defeat.<ref name=":0" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Green |first1=Antony |title=Swan (Key Seat) - Federal Election 2022 |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/federal/2022/guide/swan |website=ABC News |access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref>

==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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Muller |first1=Damon |title=The process of federal redistributions: a quick guide |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1718/Quick_Guides/FederalRedistributions |website=Parliament of Australia |access-date=19 April 2022 |date=14 November 2017}}</ref>

In August 2021, the [[Australian Electoral Commission]] (AEC) announced that Swan would lose the suburb of [[Wilson, Western Australia|Wilson]] to the seat of [[Division of Tangney|Tangney]] and gain the suburbs of [[Maida Vale, Western Australia|Maida Vale]] and [[Wattle Grove, Western Australia|Wattle Grove]] and the remainder of [[Forrestfield, Western Australia|Forrestfield]] and [[High Wycombe, Western Australia|High Wycombe]] from the seat of [[Division of Hasluck|Hasluck]]. These boundary changes took place as of the [[2022 Australian federal election|2022 election]].<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.aec.gov.au/Electorates/Redistributions/2021/wa/files/redistribution-of-western-australia-into-electoral-divisions-august-2021.pdf | title=Redistribution of Western Australia into electoral divisions | date=August 2021 | website=www.aec.gov.au}}</ref>

Swan is bordered by the [[Swan River (Western Australia)|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:<ref>{{cite web|title=Profile of the electoral division of Swan (WA)|url=http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/wa/swan.htm|website=[[Australian Electoral Commission]]|access-date=24 April 2016}}</ref>

=== [[City of Belmont]] ===
{{div col}}<!-- default width is 30em -->
* [[Ascot, Western Australia|Ascot]]
* [[Belmont, Western Australia|Belmont]]
* [[Cloverdale, Western Australia|Cloverdale]]
* [[Kewdale, Western Australia|Kewdale]]
* [[Perth Airport (suburb)|Perth Airport]]
* [[Redcliffe, Western Australia|Redcliffe]]
* [[Rivervale, Western Australia|Rivervale]]
{{div col end}}

=== [[City of Canning]] ===
{{div col}}<!-- default width is 30em -->
* [[Bentley, Western Australia|Bentley]]
* [[Cannington, Western Australia|Cannington]]
* [[East Cannington, Western Australia|East Cannington]]
* [[Queens Park, Western Australia|Queens Park]]
* [[St James, Western Australia|St James]]
* [[Welshpool, Western Australia|Welshpool]]
{{div col end}}

=== [[City of Kalamunda]] ===
{{div col}}<!-- default width is 30em -->
* [[Forrestfield, Western Australia|Forrestfield]]
* [[High Wycombe, Western Australia|High Wycombe]]
* [[Maida Vale, Western Australia|Maida Vale]]
* [[Wattle Grove, Western Australia|Wattle Grove]]
{{div col end}}

=== [[City of South Perth]] ===
{{div col}}<!-- default width is 30em -->
* [[Como, Western Australia|Como]]
* [[Karawara, Western Australia|Karawara]]
* [[Kensington, Western Australia|Kensington]]
* [[Manning, Western Australia|Manning]]
* [[Salter Point, Western Australia|Salter Point]]
* [[South Perth, Western Australia|South Perth]]
* [[Waterford, Western Australia|Waterford]]
{{div col end}}

=== [[City of Swan]] ===
{{div col}}<!-- default width is 30em -->
* [[South Guildford, Western Australia|South Guildford]] (part)
{{div col end}}

=== [[Town of Victoria Park]] ===
{{div col}}<!-- default width is 30em -->
* [[Burswood, Western Australia|Burswood]]
* [[Carlisle, Western Australia|Carlisle]]
* [[Lathlain, Western Australia|Lathlain]]
* [[East Victoria Park, Western Australia|East Victoria Park]]
* [[St James, Western Australia|St James]]
* [[Victoria Park, Western Australia|Victoria Park]]
{{div col end}}

==Members==
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center"
|-
!
! Image
! Member
! Party
! Term
! Notes
|-

|-
| {{Australian party style|Protectionist}}| 
| rowspan=3 | [[File:John Forrest - Greenham and Evans (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| rowspan=3 | [[John Forrest|Sir John Forrest]]<br />{{small|(1847–1918)}}
| [[Protectionist Party|Protectionist]]
| nowrap | [[1901 Australian federal election|29 March 1901]] –<br />26 May 1909
| rowspan=3 | Previously held the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Bunbury|Bunbury]]. Served as minister under [[Barton Government|Barton]], [[Deakin Government (1903-1904)|Deakin]], [[Joseph Cook|Cook]] and [[Billy Hughes|Hughes]]. Died in office
|-
| {{Australian party style|Commonwealth Liberal}}| 
| nowrap | [[Liberal Party (Australia, 1909)|Liberal]]
| nowrap | 26 May 1909 –<br />17 February 1917
|-
| {{Australian party style|Nationalist}}| 
| nowrap | [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist]]
| nowrap | 17 February 1917 –<br />2 September 1918

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}| 
| [[File:Edwin Corboy 1930.jpg|100px]]
| [[Edwin Corboy]]<br />{{small|(1896–1950)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1918 Swan by-election|26 October 1918]] –<br />[[1919 Australian federal election|13 December 1919]]
| Lost seat. Later elected to the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Yilgarn|Yilgarn]] in [[1921 Western Australian state election|1921]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Country}}| 
| rowspan=2 | [[File:John Prowse 1913 (cropped).jpg|100px]]
| rowspan=2 | [[John Prowse]]<br />{{small|(1871–1944)}}
| [[Western Australian Farmers Federation|Farmers and Settlers' Association]]
| nowrap | [[1919 Australian federal election|13 December 1919]] –<br />24 February 1920
| rowspan=2 | Transferred to the Division of [[Division of Forrest|Forrest]]
|-
| {{Australian party style|Country}}| 
| rowspan="3" | [[National Party of Australia|Country]]
| nowrap | 24 February 1920 –<br />[[1922 Australian federal election|16 December 1922]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Country}}| 
| [[File:Henry Gregory HOFWA.jpg|100px]]
| [[Henry Gregory (politician)|Henry Gregory]]<br />{{small|(1860–1940)}}
| nowrap | [[1922 Australian federal election|16 December 1922]] –<br />15 November 1940
| Previously held the Division of [[Division of Dampier|Dampier]]. Died in office

|-
| {{Australian party style|Country}}| 
| [[File:Thomas William Marwick.JPG|100px]]
| [[Thomas Marwick]]<br />{{small|(1895–1960)}}
| nowrap | [[1940 Swan by-election|21 December 1940]] –<br />[[1943 Australian federal election|21 August 1943]]
| Previously a member of the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}| 
| [[File:Don_Mountjoy.png|100px]]
| [[Don Mountjoy]]<br />{{small|(1906–1988)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1943 Australian federal election|21 August 1943]] –<br />[[1946 Australian federal election|28 September 1946]]
| Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Country}}| 
| [[File:LenHamilton1958.jpg|100px]]
| [[Len Hamilton]]<br />{{small|(1899–1987)}}
| [[National Party of Australia|Country]]
| nowrap | [[1946 Australian federal election|28 September 1946]] –<br />[[1949 Australian federal election|10 December 1949]]
| Transferred to the Division of [[Division of Canning|Canning]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}| 
| [[File:Bill Grayden MP.jpg|100px]]
| [[Bill Grayden]]<br />{{small|(1920–)}}
| [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[1949 Australian federal election|10 December 1949]] –<br />[[1954 Australian federal election|29 May 1954]]
| Previously held the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of Middle Swan|Middle Swan]]. Lost seat. Later elected to the [[Western Australian Legislative Assembly]] seat of [[Electoral district of South Perth|South Perth]] in [[1956 Western Australian state election|1956]]. Currently the oldest living former member of the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}| 
| [[File:HarryWebb1962.jpg|100px]]
| [[Harry Webb (politician)|Harry Webb]]<br />{{small|(1908–2000)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1954 Australian federal election|29 May 1954]] –<br />[[1955 Australian federal election|10 December 1955]]
| Transferred to the Division of [[Division of Stirling|Stirling]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}| 
| [[File:RichardCleaver1962.jpg|100px]]
| [[Richard Cleaver]]<br />{{small|(1917–2006)}}
| [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[1955 Australian federal election|10 December 1955]] –<br />[[1969 Australian federal election|25 October 1969]]
| Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}| 
| [[File:Adrian Bennett 1973.jpg|100px]]
| [[Adrian Bennett]]<br />{{small|(1933–2006)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1969 Australian federal election|25 October 1969]] –<br />[[1975 Australian federal election|13 December 1975]]
| Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}| 
| [[File:Liberal Placeholder.png|100px]]
| [[John Martyr]]<br />{{small|(1932–2021)}}
| [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[1975 Australian federal election|13 December 1975]] –<br />[[1980 Australian federal election|18 October 1980]]
| Lost seat. Later appointed to the [[Australian Senate|Senate]] in 1981

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}| 
| [[File:Kim Beazley crop.jpg|100px]]
| [[Kim Beazley]]<br />{{small|(1948–)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1980 Australian federal election|18 October 1980]] –<br />[[1996 Australian federal election|2 March 1996]]
| Served as minister under [[Hawke Government|Hawke]] and [[Keating Government|Keating]]. Served as [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister]] under [[Paul Keating|Keating]]. Transferred to the Division of [[Division of Brand|Brand]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}| 
| [[File:Don Randall.jpg|100px]]
| [[Don Randall (politician)|Don Randall]]<br />{{small|(1953–2015)}}
| [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[1996 Australian federal election|2 March 1996]] –<br />[[1998 Australian federal election|3 October 1998]]
| Lost seat. Later elected to the Division of [[Division of Canning|Canning]] in [[2001 Australian federal election|2001]]

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}| 
| [[File:Labor Placeholder.png|100px]]
| [[Kim Wilkie]]<br />{{small|(1959–)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[1998 Australian federal election|3 October 1998]] –<br />[[2007 Australian federal election|24 November 2007]]
| Lost seat

|-
| {{Australian party style|Liberal}}| 
| [[File:Liberal Placeholder.png|100px]]
| [[Steve Irons]]<br />{{small|(1958–)}}
| [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]]
| nowrap | [[2007 Australian federal election|24 November 2007]] –<br />[[2022 Australian federal election|11 April 2022]]
| Retired

|-
| {{Australian party style|Labor}}| 
| [[File:Labor Placeholder.png|100px]]
| [[Zaneta Mascarenhas]]<br />{{small|(1980–)}}
| [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| nowrap | [[2022 Australian federal election|21 May 2022]] –<br />present
| Incumbent
|}

==Election results==
{{main|Electoral results for the Division of Swan}}
{{Excerpt|Results of the 2025 Australian federal election in Western Australia|section=Swan}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.aec.gov.au/profiles/wa/swan.htm Division of Swan - Australian Electoral Commission]

{{Australian federal divisions of Western Australia}}

{{coord|-31.986|115.921|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swan, Division of}}
[[Category:Electoral divisions of Australia]]
[[Category:Electoral divisions of Australia in Western Australia]]
[[Category:Constituencies established in 1901]]
[[Category:1901 establishments in Australia]]