text: electoral district of perth the electoral district of perth is a legislative assembly electorate in the state of western australia . perth is named for the capital city of western australia whose central business district falls within its borders . it is one of the oldest electorates in western australia , with its first member having been elected in the inaugural 1890 elections of the legislative assembly . it has historically been a mostly safe seat for the labor party , but was won by liberal eleni evangel at the 2013 election . geography perth is bounded by the swan river to the south and southeast , mitchell freeway and thomas street to the west , green street to the north , and walcott street to the northeast . its boundaries include the suburbs of east perth , highgate , leederville , mount hawthorn , northbridge , north perth , perth and west perth along with part of mount lawley southwest of walcott street . major features inside the electorate include perth 's central business district , kings park , the east perth redevelopment precinct and hyde park . historically , the boundaries included a much smaller area . in 1911 , it only covered the central business district and northbridge , and in 1929 , a section between newcastle and bulwer streets was added . when it was recreated from parts of the abolished west perth and east perth districts at the 1961 redistribution , the perth electorate included all of west perth and part of kings park , but its northern boundary only extended to vincent street , hyde park and the east perth railway station . the 1972 redistribution added part of west leederville east of kimberley street , and extended the northern boundary to include southern leederville and parts of north perth and mount lawley . by 1982 , it extended to walcott street , and the 1994 redistribution saw it extend well into the former seat of mount lawley . the 2007 redistribution , which came into effect at the 2008 election , removed menora and parts of mount lawley northeast of walcott street , while including all of west perth as well as kings park , which had previously been part of . demographics as redistributions alter an electorate 's area and demographic profile , the 2006 census conducted by the australian bureau of statistics on the boundaries prior to the redistribution is the main source of information on the electorate 's current profile . at the 2006 census , the median age of the electorate 's residents was 35 years , compared to 36 across metropolitan perth — only 12 . 1 % of the electorate 's population ( compared with 19 . 5 % ) were below 15 , but the 25 – 54 age group was significantly greater . only 53 . 7 % of its residents were born in australia , compared to 61 . 5 % in perth , and much less of the remainder were from northwestern europe ( 10 . 78 % as against 13 . 93 % ) . at home , significantly more electorate residents spoke italian , cantonese , mandarin and greek at home , and whilst the top three religions ( catholicism , no religion and anglicanism ) differed little from other parts of perth , buddhism and eastern orthodox adherents outnumbered those of the uniting church . only 36 % were married compared to 49 % across perth , whilst only 47 . 7 % of homes ( compared to 67 . 2 % ) were fully owned or being purchased . the median income in the electorate was $ 606 compared with $ 513 , and 49 . 5 % of the electorate 's workers were professionals or managers compared with 31 . 8 % . in the 2007 redistribution , menora , with a median income of $ 397 and a median age of 48 , with 42 . 5 % being 55 years or over , was removed , whilst west perth , with a slightly larger population and a median income of $ 698 and a median age of 34 , and a higher percentage of professionals and managers than the electorate 's average , was added . the australian bureau of statistics do not collect data on sexuality , but the electorate is home to a significant portion of perth 's gay community . perth 's main gay venues , connections nightclub and the court hotel , as well as events such as the pride parade and , are located in the electorate . history the electoral district of perth was created as one of the initial 30 single - member districts , and one of only six in the perth – fremantle area . its first member , who was elected on 10 december 1890 , was dr edward scott , a doctor by training who had been elected as mayor of perth the previous year . he resigned in december 1891 , and was replaced at the resulting by - election on 12 january 1892 by thomas molloy . molloy became embroiled in a controversy regarding provision of state aid to private schools , which he and fellow catholic mlas timothy quinlan and alfred canning supported . the catholic vicar general , father anselm bourke , established the education defence league with their assistance . however , the issue became a major one in the 1894 election amongst the voting public , and all three mlas lost their seats , molloy losing to george randell , a prominent congregationalist who had led the cause against state aid . randell became the opposition leader to premier john forrest , but stepped down from that role a year later in july 1895 , and did not contest the 1897 election , which was won by a supporter of forrest . in the 1901 election , after which the under george leake were able to form a minority government , frank wilson , formerly the member for canning , won the seat . after five months , the leake government failed , and the governor eventually invited alf morgans of the ministerial party to form a government and appoint a six - member ministry . morgans appointed wilson minister of mines and commissioner of railways on 21 november 1901 . until 1947 , members of parliament who were appointed as ministers were required to resign their seat and recontest it at a ministerial by - election , which was normally a fairly non - eventful matter . however , leake and his allies contested the six by - elections with such organised campaigning that three of the six ministers , including wilson , were defeated . in 1911 , the seat was won for the first time for the australian labor party by walter dwyer , a lawyer who helped to draft the industrial arbitration act 1912 during the first scaddan administration ; however , he was defeated by james connolly of the new liberal party in 1914 . connolly became a minister without portfolio in the new wilson government in 1916 , but resigned in june 1917 when appointed to the role of agent general for western australia . robert pilkington of the nationalist party won the subsequent by - election on 21 july 1917 and election two months later , before leaving for england in 1921 . harry mann , a former detective who , amongst other things , oversaw gaming and racing , was elected in his place . a controversy erupted in 1933 upon the establishment of a lotteries commission , to which mann , along with john scaddan and legislative council member alec clydesdale , were appointed . several profitable newspaper competitions , including that of the sunday times , were prohibited due to being thinly disguised forms of gambling . in response , a citizens ' reform league was formed to defend the crosswords , and at the elections later that year , both mann and scaddan lost their seats — with perth being won by former labor senator ted needham , who was to hold the seat until its abolition at the 1950 election , and north perth for the following three years until his retirement . one sideline to needham 's campaigns was watchmaker and jeweller william murray , who had placed a public notice in the west australian on 28 october 1930 stating that parliament " has become an out - of - date instrument for achieving the will of anglo - saxon peoples " and seeking names and addresses of anyone wishing to work towards overthrowing it — and then ran for election as a nationalist in 1936 and 1943 . the seat was re - established at the 1962 election with different boundaries — the neighbouring seats of west perth , east perth and north perth having all been abolished in the 1961 redistribution — and was won by labor 's stanley heal , the previous member for west perth . he was defeated at the 1965 election by peter durack of the liberal country league , who was in turn defeated by terry burke in 1968 . burke , the brother of brian burke who went on to serve as premier from 1983 until 1988 , went on to hold the seat for 19 years until 1987 . he faced some high - profile liberal opponents , including future legislative councillor bob pike in 1971 , historian and author hal g.p. in 1977 and olympic swimmer peter evans in 1986 . burke resigned in 1987 , and labor 's dr ian alexander , a city of perth councillor and town planner from the party 's left faction , won the subsequent by - election on 9 may 1987 . he spent much of his parliamentary time on aboriginal issues , sustainability and the environment and the northern suburbs transit system project . on 4 march 1991 , ian alexander resigned from the labor party citing " frequent breaches of the party 's basic principles and platforms " , and sat as an independent until the 1993 election . dr alexander did not stand for election in 1993 , and labor 's diana warnock , a former radio talk - show host , won the seat with 50 . 29 % of the two - party - preferred vote against the liberals ' hal g.p. . on 21 october 1999 , warnock announced her departure at the next election for personal reasons , and threw her support behind former town of vincent mayor john hyde , a member of the centre faction of the labor party who had the support of the left faction and some centre members of parliament . however , the key centre unions had backed former ministerial adviser adele farina for the post , and labor 's affirmative action policy for candidates in winnable seats meant that failing to pick a female candidate would risk sitting male mps . a week later , the centre faction openly split , with a breakaway group endorsing hyde . on 5 november , farina withdrew from the contest , leaving hyde to be preselected unopposed ahead of the 2001 election . he maintained the seat for labor at the election , becoming the first openly gay man to sit in the western australian parliament . on 9 march 2013 , liberal candidate and city of perth councillor eleni evangel defeated john hyde and labor in an upset victory with a significant swing , becoming the first liberal member for perth since the 1960s . members for perth results